JLM

It was done in an extremely slapdash way on the show nobody watches. She did a short promo on Rampage where she said the Streetfight win told her it was a time for a change. She's going back to who she really is and she's ditching Stokeley and being her own person again. She was then confronted by Kamille and Moné. They have other plans for Stokeley and they wanted Stat to be a babyface again for the Kamille/Moné feud, and got there in the laziest way possible. She deserves better.

It’s all moot because Drew actually has a gimmicked head. I can usually tune out Cole and Graves but the robo-commentary does grate when the match is an excellent hate-filled bloodbath like that one. The insistence on using the term “superstars” sounds so silly when they’re jamming wrenches into each other’s open wounds. Also “the BEADS! The same beads Punk’s necklace was made out of! Drew symbolically pouring them over Punk’s head!” Thanks for that Michael.

He'll be very disappointed with the NXT rebrand. EDIT: Damn it, too slow. I do not have the eye of the tiger.

NXT 01/10/24 Had to tune in for the debut of NXT Black and Silver. Of the broadcast team, I still find Vic Joseph to be very bland, Booker T is having a lovely time and is amusing in the right doses, Mike Rome is a rubbish ring announcer. Typically boisterous and vocal Chicago crowd for the show, they sounded thunderous for Shawn and Hunter's opening schtick and stayed loud for most of the show. Shawn does indeed look rough. He is absolutely not anyone's boy toy. Giulia vs Perez had a bit of a sloppy start but was starting to get good when the screwy finish happened. They had some nice technical exchanges and some good scrappy brawling that got the crowd involved. Strange to watch Giulia hitting people about 50% softer than she did in Stardom. I never need to see her do the horrendous Shibata-esque shoot headbutts again, but her kicks and other strikes all looked like she was playing a bit too safe. Asuka ended up finding a good balance during her time in NXT, with strikes that looked better than everyone else's but not quite as stiff as they would be in a Japanese women's promotion. It'll no doubt take time to adjust to WWE house style and to work shorter TV matches. For a first outing in a featured match she did pretty well and there were glimpses of some good chemistry between her and Perez. Scrappy, chaotic brawling is Giulia’s greatest strength and is why she's called "The Beautiful Madness". She looks stunning and she can do lovely submissions and fancy bridging suplexes and whatnot, but she is in her element in a ringside brawl throwing strikes and headbutts. A violent nutter with the face of an angel. The nickname doesn't make a lot of sense if she's only doing the "beautiful" part, so hoping she finds a way to keep that going in this new environment. She did lose her first high profile match but it was due to outside interference. She got DDT'd on the floor, it's not like she was outclassed by Perez. Keeping it short for a first meeting and with Giulia still finding her feet was a sensible move, though I can see why some would be disappointed after the build. Axiom and Nathan Frazer vignette had very very on the nose dialogue. Frazer needs to keep his cool against their annoying opponents. Waller and Theory are very annoying in fairness. Ava Raine unconvincingly said words at CM Punk. It is astounding how uncharismatic she is. I've seen her on screen many times at this point but it still somehow surprises me every time. Pillman Jr. is still not good I see. Lexis King is a worse name than Xander Klaxx. Sadly no Klaxx on the show this week. If I signed for NXT I'd be a fast talking gambler named Emulsion Pontoon. I'd be so cool. Lola Vice/Jaida Parker had even more on the nose dialogue. They're tag team partners tonight, but would you believe they're not quite on the same page? "No one tells me what to do. I'm taking the lead tonight". "That is not happening. "You need me." "No, you need me". Kelani Jordan tells them they need each other. They disagree and leave. Kelani says out loud to nobody "Good thing I have a back up plan". Media literacy difficulty setting set to "Bully Ray" for this one. Subtext truly is for cowards. Wentz vs Lee Street fight was a cracking spotfest/sprint. The aggression was there, the highspots were crazy and the crowd was hot. The bump Wentz took from the top rope into the aisle, missing the table completely, was very scary but he seemed to be OK. Other than that though this was good stuff. It's cool how this TNA cross over has allowed them to tell this branching wider universe story calling on all of the previous Rascals and MSK lore. ` I find it very difficult to take Tony D'Angelo seriously. Oba Femi looks, sounds and carries himself like a star though. Can see why there's buzz around him. Women's tag match was OK-ish. Bit of a weird layout as the babyface team isolated one of the heels for the first half. The heels also did very little cheating or bullying of the babyfaces and only won because the babyface team imploded and Jaida seems to be kinda stupid. Post-match surprise Bianca and Jade appearance to help Kelani Jordan against the heels was cool. Great pop, great beatdown and some superstar endorsement for Jordan. DELTA vignette was very cool. The NXT women's division they're putting together is outrageous. Je'Von Evans/Orton vignette was sweet. He sounded so chuffed to be facing one of his idols. Randy saying he wants to give a youngster an opportunity but also throwing in that he sees an opportunity to land an all-timer RKO was very on brand for him. He's a babyface right now but he's still a predator damn it. Solid main event from Ethan Page and Trick Williams. It didn't quite get into the high gear I'd want for main event world title match, but they worked well together and packed a lot into 10 minutes. They got the balance right with Punk's involvement. He was enough of a distraction that Ethan Page can complain about it, but he didn't intervene in any way that diminishes Williams' win. The main take away from this is how over Trick Williams is. He may not be able to have 500 this-is-awesome-a-thons against Andrade but he has all of the presence, charisma and star quality Carmelo Hayes hasn't shown on the main roster. He looked like a megastar coming out for his entrance here, and him getting his title back felt like a huge deal. The fast track job they've done on Ethan Page has worked too, really good heat for him here and he looks refreshed and remotivated after his time languishing in ROH hell Fun episode of TV that. The acting, the on the nose dialogue and some of the gimmicks and stable names still make me wince in that NXT 2.0 sort of way (The Fatal Influence is somehow worse than Toxic Attraction, but not as bad as Pure Fusion Collective) but other than that it was an entertaining watch. Moved at a good pace, the overall presentation, branding and new titles were slick, the key players are over and the Street Fight and main event were thoroughly enjoyable TV matches.

I can totally see why it’s divisive. Overly choreographed, shatters suspension of disbelief, obvious co-operation etc. People have preferences and different thresholds for stuff like that. I see why some would love it and I can see why it’s a massive turn off for others. I enjoyed it as a spectacle but didn’t think it was up there with Ospreay’s best work this year. He can do much better than this. I’m not certain Ricochet can. I wouldn’t bother trying to define what is and isn’t wrestling though. It’s such a preposterously broad medium that I think it’s an impossible task.

Yeah I really want Hobbs in this group. He has indeed been injured. Torn patella tendon in his match against Mox in April. Self inflicted freak accident out of nothing. He went for a running knee into the corner, Moxley moved, Hobbs mangled his knee against the turnbuckles. He had surgery in May. Late September the “has been spotted backstage” talk started, so hopefully an imminent return.

Dynamite 02/10/24 I bloody love the new Mox/BCC vignettes. Another chilling promo from Mox. Shafir speaking Russian is an interesting one. I think it's a cool idea but it came across as unintentionally funny to me here. She looks great with the outfit/make up/serious face, don't know if she needs to talk in this role. Belting match from Ospreay and Ricochet. Playing the hits, fun call backs to previous matches and some breath taking new sequences and counters. I don't think it's even in the top 5 Ospreay matches this year though, such is the standard he's set. The tease of the draw and THEN the Takeshita run in was a decent way to get out of the finish I suppose. The double fall itself was a bit silly though as they weren't really both pinning each other despite all shoulders being down. That said, although they blatantly told me Takeshita was going to interfere before the match, they still managed to briefly convince me otherwise. So happy to see Takeshita doing something notable. Mone's best of Dynamite montage was solid heel shithousery. Getting her represented by MVP so he can handle the promos is probably a wise move though. She just cannot sound like a human being consistently, it's so bizarre. I hate that Mark Briscoe's Wrestledream match is a singles match against Chris Jericho, the Jay Briscoe stuff was the cheapest heat ever, but by god if Briscoe didn't get me invested in him whupping Jericho's ass. He is far too good for this shit. The graphic confirming more Learning Tree Bullshit for OC and Kyle on Friday was also a downer. They better have something outstanding cued up for the Conglomeration after this. Tremendous promo from Darby. Really liked him explaining his self-sabotaging behaviour by admitting he simply cannot help himself when someone tries to bully him. Taking the loss on the chin, showing some vulnerability and self doubt, affirming he's going to bounce back. Excellent stuff. Cracking scrap from Hangman and Juice, a real low down dirty brawl and rightly so. I can't recall Juice having a better singles match in AEW. Trying to murder a guy and then low blowing him in the revenge match, Hangman finding new lows every week. So happy with the Jay White return, amazing fire from him. A small detail but I appreciated Juice selling that he didn't know Jay white was in the building either, I did feel that needed addressing in some way. Jack Perry, what a little shit eh. Him vs Shibata should be good. Effortlessly great last minute promo for the Okada match from Danielson. Uncle Tony ribbing Nigel about the "thank you" throughout the Deeb/Baker match was delightful. Well earned payback for pretty much every episode of Collision they've called together. Match was solid. Serena Deeb was a good choice for this one, very simple stuff with Deeb leading and working the leg against Baker's sympathetic home town hero. Lovely to see Aminata on Dynamite. New music, new gear, new attitude, I am fully on board for this much needed Private Party overhaul. Good job, Moxley. Stokeley getting in on the act works for me too. If Chris Daniels really wanted to piss off The Bucks he could have booked the tag title match they just ducked, but guess we can't have everything. Looks like we are getting Original Hurt Business then? Would have preferred MVP recruiting some fresh faces for it. Love having him on the shows overall though, such a good talker. I thought we might get a bit of mystery as to who attacked Taz, but instead we got an immediate confession from Christian. Refreshing to see Hook doing something other than FTW title and/or Jericho nonsense. Mariah's promo was good! Her best one as champion. Better delivery, no heel 101 dissing of the town, just very logical points against her next opponent and a great heated confrontation with Willow to follow up. Liked this a lot. Okada/Danielson I'm sure will be divisive due to the pacing but I thought it was excellent until the very anticlimactic finish. Other than that I loved it. Okada's smug shithousing gradually turning to frustration and outright rage as it went on was fantastic. Felt like the first signs of the fire being lit under him again. I love heel wind up merchant Okada to death but it was still an exciting development to see him all riled up at the end of the show. The pop for Yuta made me so happy. Again, loving everything about the Mox stuff at the moment. The Mox/Danielson part of it is great on its own, but it's also elevated Darby, Pac, Yuta, Shafir and even Private Party. Superb. Enjoyed that episode a lot. The Mox angle and all associated threads have me hooked, I loved the opener and the main event, Hangman/Juice was great, Deeb/Baker was solid, The Iron Savages got destroyed in two minutes. Lots of stuff to like. I thought it could have done a better job of feeling like a big landmark anniversary show though. The clips of classic Dynamite moments were fine but didn't hold a candle to the work being done in the UKFF thread on the topic.

On the one hand they are very Tiktok famous and the guy is a trained wrestler, but on the other I am too old and grumpy to TikTok and I despise the Costco Guys with every fibre of my being. At least it's just the one match I guess.

ROH 19/09/24 Back down to an hour run time. This is good. The card, on the other hand... SKIPPED: Red Velvet vs Jobber Gates of Agony vs Jobbers John Silver vs Jobbe Rachel Ellering vs Jobber. I did watch the big spinning Bossman Slam tough. That was good. Infantry vs Angelico and Serpentico Anthony Ogogo vs Jobber Preston Vance vs Brandon Cutler. Brian Cage vs Jobber Dark Order vs Sammy and Dustin. Skipped the entire episode there. Five Stars. ROH 26/09/24 SKIPPED: Action Andretti vs Jobber. In fairness the jobber was Tony Deppen, but the other guy was Andretti. Iron Savages Promo. Don't wanna hear it. Iron Savages vs Dark Order Brian Cage vs Jobber Komander vs Johnny TV Preston Vance vs Lee Moriarty. Abadon killed a jobber. Heating her up for a shot against one of the most dominant champions of all time via endless jobber squashes. Red Velvet and Diamante face off ahead of their TV Title match. Velvet has a custom red strap on the belt, Diamante says red looks better on her. Diamante sounded the better of the two. Billie Starkz and Athena vs Jobbers. Billie had a new move where she sits on the ropes and then falls backwards into the ring to land a DDT. Pretty cool. Athena has dropped some weight, had some imrpessive power spots and also had a new submission finish. Abadon saved the jobbers from a post-match beatdown, Athena bailed and left Billie to be beaten up by Abadon. That's that. At least they had a bit of build towards the two upcoming women's title matches on this one. Whooole lotta nothing over two episodes there. Are they really going to put ROH on actual television as part of the new rights deal? If they do then it can't just be this, right? Right??

He’s slooowly getting there. He‘s been working DDT shows and he looks a lot better than he did in the disastrous NOAH match. Still nowhere close to his peak but appears to be heading in the right direction. They’re keeping him in fairly light multiman tags at the moment, so hopefully he can continue getting healthier. He’s never going to be the majestic specimen he once was, but last time I saw him it didn’t make me feel desperately sad, so that’s progress right?

Yep it absolutely feels like that. They seem to genuinely love the show and the characters. They’re also trying things out of creativity rather than desperation. They don’t all hit, but it’s so much better than “find place they haven’t been yet and would you believe SHAKIRA IS THERE?” Forgot to mention, the two parter “A serious Flanders” from season 33 is outstanding television even if you’re not a Simpsons fan. If you’ve seen Fargo it’s even better.

Yeah the current Simpsons writing team actually seem to get it after decades of pure garbage zombie-Simpsons. Seasons 33, 34 and 35 all had a number of genuinely good episodes. I never thought I’d hear myself say that either. “Lisa’s Belly” from season 33 is a lovely episode, and it’s where a lot of people started documenting this mini-renaissance they’re having. Big old disclaimer: It’s jarring to hear Julie Kavner struggling to do Marge, Mr. Burns sounds completely wrong, some of the episodes are still duffers and it's obviously not golden era level. It’s not trying to be or doing a poor imitation of it though. They seem to have a handle on what was great about the show, how and why it’s declined, and what it could look like going forward. There’s a lot of it aimed squarely at people like me who used to adore the show and have most of the golden era episodes seared into our memories. "Lisa the boy Scout" only really works if you're a long time fan, and it definitely worked for me. It's not all nostalgia-bait stuff though, they also give a lot of shine to older/under explored characters, doing simple character stories without shoehorning in celebs or going ultra-zany with it. Carl getting a black girlfriend and realising that he only hangs out with white people and isn't in touch with his roots at all, Duffman trying to work out how to exist/be relevant in a landscape where he is a problematic dinosaur etc. They even brought back Jaques the sexy French bowler. Thirty Three year callback! And they actually had an episode to do about him, it wasn't just "LOL REMEMBER THIS GUY!" The season 34 Treehouse of horror episode is also excellent, particularly the Westworld bit which specifically addresses the decline of the show and its relationship with the long term/lapsed fanbase. They're also doing relevant satirical stuff that they had pretty much forgotten about for 20 years. Homer starting a social media conspiracy group and finding it's one of the only places where he finds validation and people aren't calling him stupid is absolutely spot on. I cannot stress enough that I fully agree the Simpsons fell off a cliff post golden era and has been an utterly depressing shell of its former self for years and years. so I do not take recommending any modern Simpsons lightly, but 33, 34 and 35 have their moments and I’ll be watching 36.

Double post. Let’s use it to include a pic of said retirement. Still gives me goosebumps when I watch it:

It should be the one thing you’re allowed to throw into the ring at WWE shows. His entrance would look like Kobashi’s retirement.

It’s a face well worth protecting.