andrew "the ref" coyne

2 hours ago, TheScarlettChad said:

Solid enough show. Samantha is dreadful.  I'm glad someone said it. Rock looked good for what he was doing. He was sucking air tho by the end. 

Im convinced The Rock has pissed off Samantha. 

"FIrst.... weighing in a 5 million pounds of raw sex appeal, he is entering his ten thousandth day as the super mega heavyweight undisputed hyper champion, the head of the table, the sex god, the father of my future child (sorry Ricochet).... ROMAN.... MOTHER FUCKING...... REEEEEEEIIIIIIGNNNNS."

"And his partner... The Rock."

 

Man, the way they inducted Mohammed Ali was tasteless. How anyone in wwe couldn't see how that was going to be received is bizarre.

16 hours ago, air_raid said:

You've nailed it. WWE weekly telly is about advancing the story. AEW seems to be about putting on matches that fans will tune in to see. It's not entirely dissimilar to the difference between Raw and Nitro during the peak of the war, and probably part of the reason so many people see AEW as the spiritual successor to WCW. Well, along with little Tone getting Big Tone on board, by golly.

I think WCW had a better balance. Yes you had your TV title and Cruiser devision for rhe in ring, which wwe never had, and but you still had Luger, Sting, Macho, Hogan, DDP and nWo for the main narratives.

16 hours ago, Lorne Malvo said:

I don't mind Billy Gunn holding his own usually, he does tower over most of the roster so in kayfabe-sense, that size advantage makes up for his age. But having him completely destroy Jay White for about 15 minutes was ridiculous. Very weird match with Billy dominating the entire time then going for a DQ finish.

It was bad. And my theory was that this was something that sounded good on paper but in practice didn't work.

The "Gunn your so enraged with White you come and pound the crap out of him and in desperation to get away he hits a low blow" is a great way to further the story. But it ended up being "you beat the crap out of him for a prolonged amount of time, hit your finisher TWICE, have him dead to rights and refuse to pin him".

If it had been a case of Gunn runs out, throws him in and out of the ring for two / three minutes, White hits a low blow for the dq, and then the entire bang bang gang pile in to beat the crap out of gunn, it could of worked.

Essentially it needed to be less of a match and more of a glorified segment.

7 hours ago, FUM said:

Surely the story being built here is Chad turning and Gunther retaining though.

As much as I know people still love Sami, they’ve really taken away what got him to the level he did last year which was the comedy combined with the vulnerability for me.

He's still showing that vulnerability. He's definitely the underdog into the match. 

However now Im wishing they did Gunther vs Zayn in a Jackass match. I just want to see Gunther chopped with a giant novelty hand.

On 3/31/2024 at 9:28 AM, FUM said:

What an absolute shite announcement that tag match was. All primed for either Rey’s career being on the line or a hair v mask singles match. Crickets for Dragon Lee too - the kids good but the audience don’t give a shit for him yet.

Yeah was naf. Why they couldn't just go for some sort of Rey vs Escobar one of one, or some massive gang warfare match.

If they went with the latter, they could of done a much better job of building it up. Introducing new members and alliances over the course of several weeks instead of "OH HEY... DOMS ON OUR SIDE.... AND DRAGON LEE IS LWO?!?!?!?!!"

Ugh... I hate it when they try to shoehorn in a non sensicle match.

26 minutes ago, CharlesTuckerTheThird said:

Nice to see Jade on TV, always liked her work, but I have to wonder what there is for her to do on Smackdown. In my opinion the Smackdown women's scene has been pretty forgettable, so hopefully she can turn it around.

I wanna see her in a tag team with Belair.

Have them chased the belts for a few months, a solid run before losing them around Survivor Series, and after a Cargill heelturn, build for Belair vs Cargill for next year's mania.

1 hour ago, LaGoosh said:

Unrelated to the discussion at hand but fuck me, that initial Reigns/Strowman feud was just some of the absolute best stuff. It got Strowman over as an absolute killer and it was the only time Roman was even close to being accepted as a babyface.  

Who you kidding? Strowman was beloved and the fans were cheering as he smashed in Roman night in / night out. Didn't help that Roman had to get his SHIELD buddies to help him defend the belt against him like a heel.

At the time, I honestly thought they dropped the ball not making Roman the heel at that time.
 

Seriously... how is that not the start of heel champ Roman1?!?!

28 minutes ago, Lion_of_the_Midlands said:

If they don't sort something for between the end of September when the TV deal ends and the beginning of January when the Netflix deal starts then Raw will be dropping to 0 hours. 

It'll still be a fucking slog to get through.

Seriously... worse comes to worse they stream it for free on Youtube? 

But surely... SURELY... someone will pay something to have Raw for 3 months?!?

On 3/18/2024 at 2:22 AM, FUM said:

I’d be surprised if many suffer that full 3 hours of RAW without fast forward use. I was hoping the Netflix deal would be the solution but I doubt it now Netflix has an ad tier.

Personally I'm hoping they drop Raw to 2 hours.

16 minutes ago, WeeAl said:

 

 Thought This tag tournament, do we know what format it's going to take yet? Part of me thinks they should go the Continental Classic route in some way, with a group stage. 4 groups of 4, winner of A vs runner up of C etc. If every top team is in it, the whole thing could be a barn burner. 

Sadly we do and BOY are you going to be dissappinted. 

It's a shame that the IC belt has been locked around Gunther (rightfully), as the story between Jay and Jimmy is that one chose to walk away as he believed in himself and the other stayed in the abusive relationship with Roman.

As such the one who walked and had faith in himself succeeded where his brother did not, building jealousy within Jimmy.

BUT Jay's not had anything super material (accept for a flash in the pan tag title reign) to show for it.

Jay having a run with the ic belt, with Jimmy constantly coming up short, before eventually screwing his bro over for his ic belt would of made this whole thing better.

8 hours ago, Doog said:

The whole thing really has been building to Gable beating Gunther. Its felt like one of them old fashioned WrestleMania stories that started in November ish last year, Gable was chasing Gunther, lost in the first instance but kept going.

The whole build up to the match on RAW with Gables promos etc, it all pointed and made sense to him being the one to challenge and finally beat Gunther after all his work.

Sami has only just entered the story so I can completely understand why those watching week in week out aren't behind Sami in this instance, it shouldn't be his match.

Sad fact is they weren't. They had that thread go on for one month.... then it was dropped completely... then brought up recently to give him a bit of background heading into the gauntlet.

Big Gable fan, gutted for him. 

So i didn't watch the show (just read the results) and just seems a bit "meh" that the top two advertised moments (Mone's debut and the AEW Title match) were put out first.

Nothing against Rhio and Willow, but as a main event? 

Anyway... after this show it appears are top fueds are:

Mone vs Julia Hart (TBS)

Joe vs Strickland (WORLD)

Storm vs Parrazzo (WOMENS)

Okada vs Kingston (CONTINENTAL)

Ospreay vs Danielson 

Bang Bang Gang vs The Acclaim (TRIOS)

Jericho vs HOOK (Meh......)

Copeland vs Cage (TNT)

Tag Tournie (BCC vs FTR?)
 

I mean hell.... that's impressive looking. The next PPV has the possibility to deliver one of the best shows in ring in sometime for AEW.

59 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

Without wanting to go all timey wimey changing history, you have to wonder where Bryan would've ended up if he hadn't been fired at that point. It added a bit extra to his story. I mean obviously he's so fucking good that it probably would've worked out in the end but its an interesting thought anyway.

I doubt it would of been much different, as he was back in time for the Nexus ten man tag at Summerslam.

Though saying that, maybe if he stayed he would of remained to be on the heel side so would of been robbed of his rise to US champion. 

7 hours ago, Keith Houchen said:

The daughters mother had a boy from a different relationship is how I read it. 

He's trying to distant himself from the shitty little Prime drinker.

"You're not my son, you're my daughters brother. GOT IT?"

I use to love listening to Cornette. But more and more content is dedicated to him just slagging AEW, even when it's good! Sorry I can't agree with a man who thinks Moxley is shit.

It's the name calling that irks me. How can a man who calls Kenny Omega "Kenny Olivia" and the Buck "The Young Fucks" also have such great insight into the history of the business. It's infuriating. 

AEW is far from perfect, but if you can't even give them credit where it's due, then it makes what you say very questionable. 

12 hours ago, BomberPat said:

I assume that the eventual twist in the story will be Mariah May manipulating Toni into granting her a title shot, or otherwise finding a way to betray and prove that she's been playing her along. She's faking the lack of confidence in front of Toni, and being her real self everywhere else. Toni will still fall for it, because it's established in canon that  she never watches Mariah's matches.

I reckon she'll take everything. The manager, the gimmick, the title.... it will be fantastic. 

4 hours ago, Infinity Land said:

That's Mike Santana officially gone. Fightful reporting and off the roster page. Sad how it ended, but expected with the way things fizzled out when he returned. The AEW singles division is stacked (and mishandled) he was never going to get a proper look.

Don't know if WWE/NXT would have any interest. TNA and MLW's $20m slush fund absolutely should.

Sadly he was done the minute he was above his tag team. Look at the monster names he's trying to compete with! It was never going to happen anytime soon.

Another thing to consider is that we are in a echo chamber.

The average age of people on the UKFF has to be increasing over the years SURELY? So when were all spriteful and in our youth, we all thought anyone who was 35+ was old and over the hill, but now that we're all crusty gits ourselves, we're okay with 50 year old wrestling. 

I'm still involved in the AUS wrestling scene, and as a result I see a lot of sentiment from the younger generation (18 to 20 ish) who dislike the older wrestlers and think young wrestlers are being held back. So it might be OUR perceptions have changed as we've gotten older, AS WELL as the fact that generally people being healthier for longer. 

3 hours ago, RedRooster said:

Plenty of confident and powerful seeming people are superfans of celebrities, I don’t think it’s an unrealistic portrayal. Having said that, I’m not sure it’s the best use of Mariah and it doesn’t let her show her personality in a way that could draw money. Her episode of Hey EW really shows what she could be for the company - there’s a level of wit, understanding and comic timing that she’s not been able to show much of on television yet. Which wouldn’t matter so much if she added something to Toni’s act, or if she was gaining something from Toni. I’m not sure the partnership is benefitting either woman. I don’t think it’s hurting them, but I think Mariah is a little underutilised.

Actually that episode of Hey EW is what started me thinking this. The character on that was so different from the fawning super fan.

Let me be clear, I don't quite like the portrayal for the sake of the story. She's meant to bloom into this self absorbed asshole like Toni. But I can see Mariah May is fucking awesome as is Toni.

The minute her contract with AEW comes to a end, WWE will snap her up (or attempt it). She's really good.

11 hours ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

Nigel was having a good time on this show. Floored by Mariah May paying him a bit of attention, and then confirming that Brian Cage is in fact Christian Cage’s cousin during the main event.

I know Im probably the only one who thinks this, and as amazing a talent as Mariah May is (she has a very bright future), I can't help but feel AEW and May herself arn't playing the character right consistently. 

If it's based on the 1950s movie 'All About Eve', she's suppose to be a over eager fan, but in her matches and AEW social content comes across as this incredibly confident, flirty and powerful woman. The only time she seems to be accurate of the character, i.e. humble / nervous / adoring is when she is on screen with Toni. 

Id rather we had the slow build towards her becoming these things. Like acting a little more shy, dressed a bit more plainly. Then slowly but surely start growing and changing and Toni noticing these changes, before she gets a opportunity at the number one contendership because Toni is running late to work one day etc etc etc. I just feel like they've missed so many milestones in her evolution.

Is it just me? Am I being unreasonable?

5 hours ago, Devon Malcolm said:

They've got to give him the world title at some point. He should be the one to dethrone Cody Rhodes. Get Jake Paul in for the Wrestlemania 9 Doink spot to beat Cody. It's ridiculous how natural he is.

I am all in for a Logan Paul world title win. He's been fantastic.

On 1/19/2024 at 7:06 PM, CharlesTuckerTheThird said:

Wait, the dad character is Unicorse, right? I'm not misunderstanding it or it's not some sort of Tyler Durden gimmick?

Have you seen the episode where Unicorse realise he is a hand puppet and has a existential crisis about having no free will?

11 hours ago, Shane O' Mac Version 2 said:

Of course, none of that is happening. Cody wins, with The Rock turning back babyface and somehow helping, but not directly influencing the finish- like Goldberg interfering in Eddie vs. Brock. Then Cody's the man, everyone's happy... until 3 months later when everyone's sick of him and posting "LOL Super Cody".

Lesnar was speared out of his boots by Goldberg during his match with Eddie G...

Honestly though I don't need it to be super clean. I'd greatly enjoy a main event where every member of the Bloodline and every mother who Reigns ever pissed off some how gets involved LEADING to The Rock be the final factor (again not directly... maybe pull a chair away from Reigns he was hoping to use as a weapon). 

It will be the most fun clusterfuck of a match of all time in a good way.