Fatty Facesitter

Muppets Christmas Carol

Still the greatest film of all time, Christmas or not. That little c*** Tiny Tim always does me in. 

Underrated moment - the pan in the opening here as it goes through all the great philosophers lands on Rizzo and Gonzo. Art. 
 

I don't hate Micah - he's shit at the actual punditry and he's everywhere in ads these days ("We Buy Any Caaaar!") but he means well bless him. I've always found Shearer to be an obnoxious prick. 

Rob Edwards is a gem and he's doing such a grand job there. Luton's squad on paper, respectfully, doesn't look like it can cut it at Prem level and yet somehow they are not only remaining competitive, but are actually in with a real chance of staying up as they continue to grow in the league. I know they are 18th now, but I can see other clubs being dragged into the dogfight in the second half of the season and Luton pipping them to the survival post. 

Superb night. We were way up in the Gods but the atmosphere was still cracking. Looking forward to watching it back.

An absolutely massive thumbs up 👍👍👍

On 8/15/2023 at 2:17 PM, CleetusVanDamme said:

Just don't do it the Mark Halsey way around!

 

I know the commentator from this game. Chap called Michael Weadock - really nice bloke who often covers a lot of multi-sport events and still some football bits. I sent this to him and he’d completely forgotten about this and it brought back some great memories. His co-commentator, Alan Comfort, became a vicar after retiring from football. 

To reiterate Bacon's point, the day after strikes do have a knock-on effect. This is usually because of drivers not being in the right spots and things like their overtime etc. So although services will run - and the Underground should run as normal - give yourself as much time as you can to avoid the sardine treatment.

In terms of boozers, several good spots along the Jubilee line which also runs to Wembley. The south bank with Waterloo/Southwark is a bit further out at the other end of the line but good for ticking off a few sight-seeing bits and bobs if that's your bag (there's a maccies by the London Eye as well). 

Fun start to the new season. The Mustard looking very competitive two games in - scorcher of a 4-4 today against Southampton. 

By the way the prestigious FPL 'Chippy Tea League' has been renewed if anyone wants to join. Also, I promised last year's winner a free chippy tea, but I don't know who the winning poster was. If you're reading this now and it was you, PM me!

Link to join for 23/24 (code is at the end of the URL): https://fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/auto-join/elx7j7   

Good start for me - Haaland up to his usual tricks and will essentially be my captain all season until he gets injured/suspended. Saka and Martinelli up and running plus lovely Brighton 1-2-3 put me in a good position for Sunday with four bodies still to play. 

Gooners - what's the craic with Gabriel and his mysterious benching today? Anything more in that apart from a one off? 

I'm torn on the current Bloodline business. Summerslam disappointed and it does feel like it's bordering on running too long now - but then out of nowhere they can produce a segment that lures you right back in, and before you know it we'll be heralding it as the greatest thing since sliced bread again. Looking at the overall body of work, I think there's still good times to be had be keeping it going - albeit the warning light is on and the sat nav is alerting them to divert to the nearest petrol station. 

Seeing lots of comments online about Roman's 'GSCE drama' acting - I think that's harsh and it feels like an easy stick to beat them with. I think that criticism comes built in with moans about how long he's been on top, but also any time someone in WWE tries to 'act' or convey emotion, it immediately gets dismissed as pish acting. Purely in isolation, I think he's been brilliant with his promos, his gestures and his storytelling in general. 

PS - Thumbs will return post holiday/work calming down 👍👎

Excellent topic. Love John Motson’s commentary in the World Cup ‘98 PlayStation game. How this line made it in I don’t know, but he goes “Oh he’s saved it, but it should have gone in - he couldn’t hit a cow’s backside with a banjo, this fella” - Makes me giggle when it pops into my head. 

(skip to about 10:00)

Hello team, looking for recommendations on headsets which are noise cancelling but also with a decent enough mic bolted on. I'm tighter than a duck's arse and thus don't want to break the bank. It will primarily be for conference calls and for blocking out distractions, not to be flash and to listen to any bangers etc. 

1 minute ago, jazzygeofferz said:

I don't have a regular job at the moment, but it could be something to do for a little extra cash, and so I'm not just sat watching crap on YouTube in the morning or the evening. 

Go for it bud. One thing on the plus side is that video is so dominant at the moment across multiple platforms, so there's a market there if people haven't worked out how to auto-generate their captions. 

One thing to possibly look into is adding the captions onto videos yourself - that might open up more potential options. You shouldn't need to do any physical editing in terms of chopping up an existing video, but if you can work out how to add and apply subtitles to a particular video, that might open more doors. If you look at free video editing sites like Open Shot, there's tons of tutorials on YouTube and it's a piece of piss to master. 

3 hours ago, jazzygeofferz said:

Has anybody had a look at those freelance subtitling jobs? They look pretty interesting, although it could be tricky to get myself into a routine for it. A little extra money could always be handy. Doing my own taxes could be tricky as well.

Couple of things to keep in mind for this chief - 

Editing software like Premiere Pro now has auto-transcription software. It doesn't always come out brilliantly (it almost always needs tidying up and fixing afterwards), but it's easier to go back in and fix bits rather than doing a full transcript manually or paying someone else to do it. This is swallowing up a lot of transcription work. 

You're often at the mercy of tight deadlines. So if you were to get some work and produce them for someone, they might relentlessly hassle you for revisions and you might be out at work in your regular job etc. 

Certainly not trying to discourage you matey, if you can find bits and bobs on projects that aren't time sensitive for a client then you could still be on to a winner. But just a couple of things to keep you on the straight and narrow 

Overall - Transitional week so not one you'd need to watch all the way through, but a few highlights to digest from YouTube clips at least. 

👍 Bloodline bid'ness - Not a segment we'll remember in the wider context of the saga, but if anything that's a compliment to just how good the whole storyline has been from start to finish. Even a 'filler' segment is still better than most. Good to see Heyman get a kicking for a change. It's very hard to see Jey taking the strap from Roman and I think this might be a problem over the next couple of weeks, but I think the talent involved will do more than enough to suspend disbelief in the match itself when it happens. 

👍 US title-contender fourway - Action-packed and everyone was full of beans. 

👍 Brawling Brutes/Pretty Deadly - Enjoyable opening contest. Went very much as expected with the heels overcoming their foes with some skullduggery. 

👍 LA Knight is officially a babyface at this point. The right move. LA Knight vs Austin Theory at Summerslam would be the right call IMO. 

👎 Bobby Lashley/Street Profits - I'm up for the union itself, but Lashley rocking up in a car 3/4 of the way through the show and fucking straight off again is just...odd. Hope he didn't get paid for that shift!

 👎 Women's title business - Don't think this landed as intended. Bianca put in a good performance at the start and end of the show, but Charlotte sucks the life out of everything in terms of enjoyment. Butchered her opening promo and she remains insufferable as a babyface figure. Asuka/Bianca wasn't a patch on past efforts, even if you consider this instalment to be more of an angle rather than a match. The potential Io Sky cash-in added some drama, but the conclusion to that was a bit too predictable as well. Not terrible and it's good to see the women getting to open and close, but a few issues to address in the post-mortem. 

👎 Zelina Vega/Bayley - Too short to be anything of note.  

On 7/13/2023 at 9:42 AM, Statto said:

Yep, it is. As sponsor's logos go, one of the nicer ones to incorporate into a design. Simple logo and they appear happy to have it in any colour to match the shirt design, looking at their recent history.

Edit: gonna put this in here rather than double posting - I ain't mad at it, as the kids say:

Don't mind it at all - not quite up to par with last year's pinstripe number but still decent. The away kit this year is very nice imo. 

Overall - Show was fine again, some really good action and a number of items progressed. I am respectfully going to tap out reviewing it for the time being (only three shows in, poor form!) as unless there's a PPV on, I quite like having a lie in. There's positives to the show but Dynamite, to me, still feels like the premium flagbearer of a show and that's the one I'd rather keep watching for now. Might pick up again as we get closer to All In. Again though, some stuff definitely worth checking out this week. 

👍 Samoa Joe vs Roderick Strong - Lovely stuff, exactly the sort of thing I want to see on a show called Collision - an actual collision of two bastards clobbering the daylights out of one another, yet mixed in with some technical niceties to add a little extra sauce. I'm indifferent about Punk's commentary stint but I'm well up for a programme with Samoa Joe if that's the route they're going down. 

👍 MJF/Ethan Page business - Wasn't too sure what to make of this at first. With MJF's initial squash of Kip Morst, it just seemed like an odd booking element to chuck in. I know the whole point is that MJF does the bare minimum, but kayfabe or otherwise, putting your World champion against a jobber seems a bit low rent to me. Then, out comes Page and delivers a fiery babyface promo, delivered with serious vinegar, and the resultant match also told a good story around the psychology of Page's knee trouble. I think the biggest issue is that we've spent four years of essentially hating Page, and I know there's a bit of a transition with this Hardy business at the moment, but even for a hometown crowd it's a lot to ask of them to do a complete 180 on someone in one sitting, for a match that almost had too much of a foregone conclusion about it, and I think that was reflected in the reaction. That said, full marks for effort and whilst I've stated some reservations, a good start to proceedings. 

👍 Powerhouse Hobbs vs Dustin Rhodes - Very enjoyable. Dustin elicits sympathy from the audience so easily (I was going to say naturally, but that would have been far too cheap from me) and Hobbs' offence always looks devastating. Simple to digest, very effective and well executed. 

👍 Miro vs Anthony Henry - Now this was an enjoyable squash. Miro looks in fine fettle. This build - whilst done 1000 times to establish a performer's dominance - is a good way to re-establish him.

👍 Ricky Starks vs Juice - Fine and dandy. Can we please move young Ricardo onto something else now though. This business with Juice has gone on long enough. 

👍 Kris Statlander vs Lady Frost - Short but sweet enough. Statlander has already made the TBS title infinitely more interesting with some eye-catching performances in her defences. 

👎 Bullet Club Gold/Gunns - The day that Bullet Club concept officially died and went beyond the realms of caricature. The segment ran far, far too long and the addition of the Gunns is just such an uninspiring and underwhelming move. 

👎 Announce team - Kelly/McGuinness is a pairing that just doesn't do it for me and it really does reduce my overall enjoyment of the show. They lack the enthusiasm and panache of the likes of Excalibur on Dynamite and it just doesn't feel like it clicks. 

Overall - Thunderbastard of a show. London were seriously treated to a brilliant spectacle. 

👍 Bloodline Civil War - Ok, so it perhaps dragged a tad before the conclusion, but butter my bollocks what a conclusion it was. The moves, the kickouts, the emotion, all of it. Jey getting the pin is just absolutely massive. For London to be the city that gets to see Roman eat his first pin in all that time is pretty special. Another roaring success in the best WWE storyline ever, which I’m feeling more in more confident in claiming it as now. The longevity, the raw emotion, the presentation, the execution, it’s just absolutely wonderful. Roll on Summerslam. 

👍 Cena - Fuck, what a surprise and what an ovation. They don’t necessarily have to run ‘Mania at Wembley although that would obviously be a preferred choice - by all means run it at the Spurs stadium or the Olympic stadium as alternative options (Stratford would actually be a really good shout - you could run a load of the Axxess stuff nearby on the Olympic Park, it’s only a few stops away direct to the 02 for Smackers/NXT/Raw etc). And you know what, they should run it in fucking Australia as well because that would also be mint. Cena though, what an absolute lad for trying to do that for London. Got the ovation he deserved. 

👍 MITB matches - Both well worth a watch and I enjoyed them immensely. No issue with either winner - exciting possibilities in both instances. Some spots didn’t quite get executed perfectly but the vast majority meant something across both, which is great. Thought Logan Paul was dead after that Spanish fly spot. 

👍 Cody vs Dirty Dom Dom - Fuck, what a crowd for Cody. Again, richly deserved and firm proof once again that he is a massive worldwide star, and when the time comes, as I still think it will, hitch the wagon to him and he’ll deliver. Match was fun without being a classic from an in-ring standpoint, but putting two performers together here with nuclear heat either side of the face/heel divide was an inspired choice. 

👍 Women’s tag titles - Was fine leading up to the finish with Shayna turning on Ronda, which I actually think is a good direction for both of them. It’s something that I think will revitalise both more so than a tag title reign and you can really put together a big fight feel from it. 

👎 Gunther/Riddle - Perhaps it’s a surprising thumbs down because it wasn’t terrible - but it just didn’t feel special compared to recent Gunther defences and perhaps was a little too easy to telegraph. Nice to see Drew back, that’ll be a corker at Summerslam. 

👎 Rollins/Balor - Again not horrendous  by any means, and perhaps it was down to positioning on the card and a touch of burnout. But this one just didn’t quite tingle the testes as much as I’d hoped on this particular stage. Priest interfering and causing tension with Balor is a fun dynamic though and it will make things interesting moving forward in terms of how everything plays out. 

Overall - Good show which had a big-time feel because of the setting. Not flawless but a nice taster ahead of tonight’s main course. 

👍 Bloodline Business - Another strong segment and it added further intrigue to tonight. I now fully buy the possibility that Roman might be the one who eats the pin and this will set us up for Summerslam and beyond. Juicy. Juicy Ucey. 

👍 Owens/Zayn vs Pretty Deadly - Fun atmosphere though shame on the crowd for not getting behind their local heroes! Not quite a ripper but not ridiculously dull either. 

👍 Ladder match business - Apart from Logan tripping over parts of his promo, the setup with LA Knight and the resultant triple threat made for good TV. LA Knight’s been superb of late. 

👎 Austin Theory/Ridge Holland - I actually thought Ridge put in a decent showing. Theory though is just so bland. Anti-climatic ending. 

👎 Asuka vs Charlotte - Again, screwy finish. 

👎 Bayley/Shotzi - Bit dull. 

Can Tanahashi not age without getting picked on for some knobbly knees? It also plays into some of the psychology in his matches, so I think he deserves credit for battling it out as opposed to be criticised for it. 

1 hour ago, The King Of Swing said:

Loved the opening promos. Proper Saturday Night's Main Event, vibes. 

One negative for me was Miro's promo.

It's just jobberish at this point with no real endgame and if HoB are going to get shit for that kind of thing then Miro shouldn't get a pass.

Define jobberish? He's been built up for this return, had a big squash last week and got promo time in a funky studio setting this week to set the course on a new character direction. Impossible to determine the end game two shows in. 

Overall - Excellent standard throughout and an even more fun show than the debut. Not a bad match on the show. 

👍 CMFTR/Starks vs BCG/Gunns - Ripper of a main event with a result that I admittedly wasn't expecting so soon into Punk's comeback. Action-packed throughout and with little let up. The mixed reaction to Punk was very interesting and that's going to create quite a fun new dimension and dynamic moving forward for any shows outside of Chicago. I dug the opening promo at the top of the show before the intro reel - nice transition into Elton's classic. 

👍 Sting/Jericho business - More good patter here heading into Forbidden Door. Jericho/Suzuki make a wonderful pair. Glad Naito turned out to be the surprise partner and not Goldberg as was rumoured by some. 

👍 Swerve vs Tanahashi - Super! Very enjoyable. I'm not as hot on NJPW as others might be, but Tanahashi is someone I've always enjoyed watching. That'll be a smasher of a contest with MJF. 

👍 Brody King vs Andrade - Good David/Goliath style dynamic. Both busted a gut here and weren't afraid to throw in a little psychology for fusspot purists like me. Good times. 

👍 Cage/Luchasaurus business - Love the fact that Cage is parading the title as his own even though Luchasaurus is the champion - it only makes him more detestable as a hell. Top patter as usual. 

👍 Willow vs Nyla Rose - I enjyoed this far more than I was expecting. Impressive Powerbomb at the end from Willow to rubberstamp it. Great effort. 

👍 Powerhouse Hobbs squash - Very enjoyable romp. Too many squashes across the modern wrestling landscape are too samey - but this was a very pleasing way of presenting one because Hobbs is quite a unique performer. Delicious. 

Overall - Solid Smackers. Probably more of a transitional or filler episode to get us across to London next week, but there was still plenty to smile about. 

👍 Uso's opening promo - Nice way to kick things off. I like the little nugget about them forgiving Roman eventually - it's inevitable they'll be homies again at some point in the future, possibly even as a babyface collective as I've previously speculated. Nothing groundbreaking in fairness but a nice way to address the incredible moment from a week prior. 

👍 Sheamus vs Solo - Big meaty men slapping meat. Delicious. Solo's had a fair few TV main events this year and he hasn't looked out of place at all. Sheamus is still working to a really high standard after several years. Post-match angle was all fine and dandy too. Heyman being scared of Solo really helps to sell his aura and further the question marks about Heyman's own future on the Island of relevancy. 

👍 LA Knight vs Rey Mysterio - Good opening bout and the right result to keep the main man hot on the road to London. Yeah!

👍 Ronda Rousey/Shayna Baszler vs. Isla Dawn/Alba Fyre - One or two executions didn't quite come off, but this was still a great effort from all four souls. It was Rousey's best outing in quite sometime for starters. Wouldn't be against a rematch. 

 👍 Pretty Deadly vs Street Profits - Firstly, top patter with Pretty Deadly on the best SD version of the Grayson Waller Effect so far. More of them together as a trio, please (or should that be PRETTY please, eh? Geddit?). Match with the Profits was tidy. Nice touch with Motez taking Elton's top and trying it on for size before doing a big dive to the outside. A good heater for them heading into a huge show for them next week. Good luck lads. Yes Boy!

👎 Oh goodie, Liv Morgan is back. 

👎 Charlotte vs Lacey Evans - Dull. Charlotte paying homage to her hubby with the lying down pose was the highlight of the match (if you can call it that). 

Overall - Not a banger this week and to be honest the whole show is pretty skippable. That's not to say it was terrible - if anything it's a backhanded compliment because Impact has been a thoroughly enjoyable watch of late. The action was mostly good, just not quite Carling. 

👍 Bully Ray/Maclin vs Kazarian/Edwards - Not the best main event in comparison to recent weeks of Impact but still perfectly serviceable. 

👍 Dirty Dango vs Bhuphinder Gujjar - Short but sweet. Dango's pre-match promo 'man, do I hate professional wrestling' was a nice touch. Always love a Santino cameo. 

👍 Backstage bits - Some good angle advancement on the show. D'Amore kept things bubbling over nicely with regard to Bully Ray and Maclin, and the Shelley/Jimmy Jacobs exchange around Nick Aldis was also good patter. 

👍 Digital Media Title: Joe Hendry vs. Yuya Uemura - Match of the night. I still believe in big Joe. 

👎 OVE vs Good Hands/Myres - Uncharacteristically flat start to the show. Impact is usually great at putting on an opening match banner to set the tone for the rest of the show. This wasn't it. I find Sami Callihan's entire act quite cringe. 

👎 Bailey/Gresham vs The Design - Again I find all of the Design bollocks really quite tiresome. Put Bailey and Gresham with any other pairing and they could have put on a good contest. Instead it was just totally flat. Also, Speedball's music is so slow and dull - not akin to his nickname at all. Change it. Change it at once!

👎 Taylor Wilde v Killer Kelly - Too long and too bland. Slamovich teaming up with Kelly is mildly interesting but this was another flat execution overall. 

Overall - Another Dynamite cracker. We're really being spoiled so far in 2023 for great wrestling telly. 

👍 Main event angle - That's how you build to a PPV. Passion, aggression, surprises, the lot. Lovely jubbly. Okada/Danielson is going to be something else. 

👍 Post-match brawl from the opener - I'll come back to the opening match itself in due course, but the post-match skirmish was a lot of fun with all the different stars appearing. That's how the show should have started generally, maybe with a promo instead of the tag match we did get. Anyway, more good build for the fun and games to come in the days ahead. 

👍 Jeff Jarrett vs Mark Briscoe - Brilliant! The start where they were brawling in the concourse looked like an actual, proper fight. They just kept chucking all sorts of shit at each other and barely let up, exactly as you'd probably do in real life (ladder/table spot aside). The interferences also added to the fun of the proceedings as it progressed. Great cameo from Papa Briscoe. Lots and lots of fun. This whole escapade with Briscoe, Jarrett and co has been so much fun since it started a few weeks ago. 

👍 Jericho/Guevara/Suzuki vs Andretti/Martin/Fox - Action packed and another fun watch. Suzuki's a fucking riot. Stinger's appearance post-match made for a cracking little exchange with Jericho as well. Fun times. 

👍 Shibata/Cassidy vs Garcia/Sabre Jr. - Another ripper. Garcia the surprising MVP of this one considering the talent around him - he's such a shithouse with all the gyrations and the general skullduggery. Lovely stuff.  

👍 TBS title - Couple of slight missteps aside, good contest here. The TBS title is already all the more interesting for Statlander holding it and Taya put in another good showing. Tough spot for them on the card too but they certainly made it work. 

👎 Cole/MJF - Not a fan of this in all honesty. It wasn't the kind of follow-up I was hoping for after the brilliant match we had between them last week. Wacky tag team partners that don't like each other? Do me a favour [/Roy Keane]. Also, nobody gets to tell the great Tony Schiavone to shut up and gets away with it. Formal complaint lodged. 

👎 Hardyz vs Gunns - Poor choice for an opener considering the depth of amazing talent available on the show this week - in fact I'd have knocked this from the show altogether. Jeff looked absolutely awful - no shortage of effort but his body looks to be struggling to cope with the rigours and the standard required. 

Overall - Absolute belter of a Raw this week with a strong crowd, great matches and some smashing build towards MITB in London. Certainly brightened up a pretty miserable commute to work this morning with the mad weather and train delays. 

👍 Cody/KO/Sami vs Judgement Day - You are looking at the Raw modern equivalent of 2002’s Smackdown Six. Top main event from all performers who are absolutely bossing the show at the moment. The KO/Sami narrative throughout the night was a comedy delight, Judgement Day kept bringing it through the whole show, and Cody’s just a bloody delight isn’t he? Absolutely terrific stuff and a fine way to close a really good show. 

👍 Also please tell me that Cody and Tozowa are about to start a beautiful bromance together, because it would really want my cockles. Nice cameo and I hope there’s something more to this rather than a  one off - Tozowa’s ace. 

👍 Rollins get twatted - Perfect way to start the show. I was about to moan about another long and drawn out Seth singalong, only for Finn Balor to come out and beat the living daylights out of him. It was calculated, vicious and perfectly executed. A hot start for a crowd that we’re bang up for everything this evening. I also like Seth’s short promo later in the night and I also enjoyed Bron Breaker’s cameo appearance. 

👍 Ciampa vs Miz - Further continuation of a strong start with a return and a good contest. Good to see Ciampa back in the mixer.

👍 Logan Paul - That was as close to a Logan baby face promo as we’re ever likely to get - he still got boo’ed but he also still managed to win over some of his fellow locals! Brilliant addition to the match. What a treat for those descending on the 02. 

👍 Riddle vs Kaiser - Decent and hard-hitting. Nasty post-match beatdown with Gunther in tow as well.

👍 Alpha Academy vs Viking Raiders - Loving Alpha Academy more and more each week. Top patter. 

👍 Rhea twats Natalya - Exactly what it needed to be. 

👍 Racquel vs Trish - Good! Fun dynamic. Becky comes across as a bit of a tosspot for inadvertently costing Racquel, otherwise this was fine. Also, Mami vs Big Mommy Cool? That’s got potential.

👎 Green/Deville vs Katana/Chance - Too short to be of much note but it wasn’t completely terrible. 

👎 Indus Sher vs ex-Hurt Business - Another boring Indus squash. Skip! 

👎 Shinsuke Nakamura vs Bronson Reed - This is becoming a problem now with Nakamura - he’s only capable of having good matches with far more experienced and technically sound opponents. Bronson only seems capable of looking impressive when battering little guys. This didn’t click.

Overall - A very strong debut episode for Collision and a nice Sunday morning watch accompanied by a fry up. 

👍 Punk opening promo - An enjoyable listen, delivered with poise, bass, piss and vinegar in his voice. There were just enough teases about the Elite to reference the falling out, and just enough teases about future plans as he carried around his boots and the world title in the bag. Aggressive Punk full of venom could make for really good viewing. 

👍 CMFTR vs Bullet Club Gold & Somoa Joe - Very good standard in the main event. The Punk/Joe standoffs were a particular highlight. Punk didn’t look out of place and perhaps the tag format is a good way for him to gradually fall back into the fold - it gives him an opportunity to shake off the ring rust with short bursts and crowds will keep going wild with the hot tags. It was a different style to the BCC/Elite six man on Dynamite - worked at a much more hard-hitting and a slower, more methodical pace. That’s not to its detriment though at all. The result was perhaps too easy to telegraph, but it certainly delivered as advertised. 

👍 Wardlow vs Luchasaurus - Good, although perhaps not the match I’d have started with (even with it being for the TNT title). I think Andrade/Buddy would have been a more suitable choice for Collision’s first bout. However, what we did get was a good big man encounter that built nicely. Christian’s patter on the outside throughout was great - and celebrating with the title afterwards was even more dickish. Title change makes sense - it’s the first Collision and you need some talking points for it, and Wardlow at least didn’t lose clean. 

👍 Andrade el Idolo vs Buddy Matthews - Absolute ripper and would have been my choice for the opener. Had all the flashy moves you’d expect, but some excellent physicality too along with the psychology of their respective injury concerns. Lovely stuff. Some good relationship admin from Andrade by busting out the Figure 8.

👍 Miro vs Tony Nese - Miro looks absolutely shredded. Great showcase for his return. 

👍 Ruby Soho/Toni Storm vs. Willow Nightingale/Skye Blue - Good standard here. Sky Blue with another improved performance. Storm is excellent - she looks so composed in the ring and her execution is really top notch. 

👎 Announce team - Excalibur deserves to put his feet up, but this show really missed his presence. The announce team of Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness didn’t cut the mustard for me. We’ll give the knackered old pervert JR a pass for being under the weather, but it was still a tough listen. There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with Kelly’s calls, but he’s just so bland and unexciting. The action the ring certainly delivered, but it was juxtaposed by his blandness. 

4 hours ago, FUM said:

I reckon you could easily work this all the way to Roman as a face with The Bloodline v Gunther as a heel with Imperium who have been running roughshod all over the company by the time he comes back….

That would be ace. 

The biggest blessing (and possibly biggest curse) of the Bloodline story is the authenticity - the real-life family element makes the whole thing more unique, and the actual, literal bloodline of the family will see them feud, reunite, feud again and reunite again in the years to come before they all wind up in the Hall of Fame in the decades to come. 

The challenge for the next dominant heel faction is how they foster and present the connection between the stablemates without the family element. Gunther and his Imperium cohort, if expanded, could be a good fit for that. Gunther already has elements of Reigns’ pompousness and sense of self-grandeur, but he backs it up by being physically so difficult to beat.

They should really play up to his Ring General tag - not in the sense of wearing daft army gear, but in how others view him. After all, who better to face a Tribal Chief than a leading Ring General? Just like Roman’s henchman fear him and have done his bidding, Gunther can instill the same fear into his subjects. If anything, the lack of family ties means you could potentially expand the army further. 

4 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

The real challenge is filling the void. That's not to say there isn't some good stuff in WWE as there obviously is. But they need people to step up. For every Bloodline there's a Retribution and plenty of other failed ideas. But I guess you just never know til you try. No one knew the heights this would hit.

I think part of the beauty of it is how it’s elevated the respective talents that have been involved with it. We’re perhaps seeing the first signs of this now with KO and Sami - apart from the odd cameo here and there, they’re basically done with the Bloodline now and moving in another direction - it’s early days but they’re still swivels over even without the Bloodline to rebel against on Raw. The challenge now will be for other parties such as the Usos to be able to do the same in the long term without Roman’s presence, which I think they’re probably gearing up to do in the future.