Duke

Seth's going to look even more like a loser participation champion when Cody picks Roman after that.

12 minutes ago, Supremo said:

The only things of any worth I can ever remember coming out of them are daft Character bits like Toni Storm challenging Wendi Richter and Jey Uso and Cody being high as kites. All that stuff could just happen on TV or backstage bits you put on Twitter. Everything else could be a three-line press release for how much proper information comes out of them.

This neglects the tangible increase in muffin sales after CM Punk at All Out. 

Oh yeah, and that other thing.

20 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

I'm just looking at it on a professional level, and there's an argument that people like us are going to be furious anyway, but if there's an audience reading the Daily Mail/Sun etc who don't know enough to know how close Triple H was to that earlier regime, watering down the terrible coverage with some of the good news you've had going on isn't the worst idea.

In terms of strategy, it's not a terrible idea, though he didn't handle it anyway near as well as Cody did (who basically gave the same answer, just better) and came across as a bit ham-fisted.

I think, if it'd been me advising him, I'd maybe have said say less and just accept the coverage will be 100% negative. You can't 'win' every shit storm.

So I think there's some truth in this, and my professional instinct gets it a bit too, but that was a terrible execution of that strategy. Don't explicitly say "I choose to focus on the positives" you absolute mentalist.

Your final point is spot on though. The first rule of crisis management, surely, is "don't do anything that might make it worse" and therefore say as little as physically possible. 

Just checking, but none of us believe him when he said he hadn't read the lawsuit, right?

15 hours ago, waters44 said:

I was sat on my own drinking cider thinking about this as you do

I wonder that if TK wasn’t such an argumentative prick the two companies could do something like this. 

Aside from all the other stuff people have said, the idea they don't do this exclusively because Tony Khan might be a prick about it is astonishing to me.

I must confess when I first read some of the detail my first thought was "burn it all down and sow salt on the ashes" but obviously everyone else losing their jobs is completely unwarranted and actually gives the old goat more power, and probably fits his "WWE is me" narrative

In conclusion I hope they don't close the company, but change it's name to WCW, put Eric Bischoff in charge and just lie about the past 25 years and pretend they won the Monday night wars. That's the worst we can do to him.

11 minutes ago, Supremo said:

Yes.  Now is the time to pull his merch.

Mission accomplished everyone. Let's go home.

I know Vince isn't in charge anymore, but he still profits big from WWE right?

Edit: just realised that could read as a passive aggressive dig people who watch/pay for the product. It's not, it's a genuine question for my own sake.

I've just realised that Bucks vs Sting and Derby has the opportunity for the Bucks to do stereo "I'm sorry, I love you" superkicks only for sting to no sell it and beat his chest. 

Late to the party I know, but now I'll be so sad if that doesn't happen 

Edit: can I also just confirm that Toni Storm said "I'll twist your lips so hard you'll need an epidural"? Because if so Eastwood.gif.

4 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

In SI's report its Gunther/Seth for the secondary title, Roman/Rock for the actual title and Cody/Punk in a 'LOL, LOOK AT THESE AEW CUNTS' match.

That's weird. So they built Punk and Rollins for no reason?

47 minutes ago, JLM said:

I hate it. The end to Roman’s epic reign needs more finality than that, it would be such a massive waste of a moment that wont come along again for the foreseeable future. He was finally dethroned after this years-long era of dominance  only for the guy who beat him to hold the belt for 2 minutes. It would completely cut Cody’s legs off *and* it’d be a waste of the Roman loss. I hate the idea of Cody not winning it at Mania *again* after they fucked it last year, but him winning and then losing it minutes later is even worse. 

Yeah I mean what JLM said, but I also think that if Cody is your top babyface and face of the company, he needs to hold the title for an extended period of time. Not how long Roman held it for, but a while to establish him as the guy.

Unrelated, but if Cody's not winning the Rumble, he needs to either not be in it at all, or eliminated before Rock turns up (if he does) or Punk does (if he's winning). 

Punk winning and then picking Seth is beyond even his promo ability to rescue, I think, so if those are the two title matches,  Rock better  win the rumble.

3 hours ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

Absolutely. It totally fits the Cody character. He finally defeats the undefeatable Reigns. He completes his story....and then Priest cashes in and steals it.

Instant heat on Priest and Cody now has to get it back. It was stolen from him just like it was from his Dad. It's perfect for the story arc. 

 

For the record I was messing around and this is absolutely not a good idea.

9 minutes ago, air_raid said:

There’s no good way out for Priest now, he’s a moron forever. Short of turning up to Seth’s hospital with a ref.

He could cash in on Cody immediately after he wins the belt on the show after Mania. He said he was going to finish the story, but he was never promised a happy ending.

7 hours ago, FUM said:

Personally, I would absolutely enter the Rumble even if I had a guaranteed shot already. Why would you not want two chances?

I sort of get this, but the other option is not to go through the grueling royal rumble match and let someone else wear the champion out at Mania before smashing them and closing the show with the belt, which feels obviously superior to me.

Sorry if someone's already mentioned this, but didn't Adam Cole leave WWE because he didn't want to be a manager. Funny how things work out.

9 hours ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

I’m not sure I can count on this. Nothing to do with the Bucks though. Chris Jericho has VERY SUBTLY said “seek and destroy” in his last two promos and, unless I missed it, commentary didn’t confirm that it’s definitely Sting & Darby vs The Bucks. I think Jericho’s going to squeeze his way in there.

I like that Jericho has become our bogey man on AEW.  "Be careful with this story, or Jericho will come in and ruin it!" Flinching at every electric guitar riff in case it's Judas. Walking quickly past every Wetherspoons with our collars up.

Is that was it was like with Hogan in the late 90s?

On 1/13/2024 at 5:17 PM, CleetusVanDamme said:

I don't think there's ever been a sustained tactical call that's infuriated me more than Colwill at left back. What does Poch think he's seeing every week? I instinctively smiled when I saw an actual LB ready to come on before I realised he was going elsewhere. Nothing gets in the way of Operation Turn A Top Centre Back Prospect Into Dan Burn.

I try to think of it as playing a back 3 with whoever's on the left wing at LWB. It helps me process, because I'm totally with you.

They're also really, really good at making others look good. Private Party have never looked as good as they did on that first episode of Dynamite and nor have Top Flight.

I think that's also part of the reason Sting picked them for his final match, that they're the best placed to make him look great on the way out and put Darby over huge. 

They're obviously not for everyone, a bit too meta for many and like Devon said, they personify a change in the style of wrestling over the past 10 years that isn't to everyone's taste, but a lot of the criticism of them, including in this thread, just feels so far from what they're like these days.

41 minutes ago, Lion_of_the_Midlands said:

They don't have it in them. If they didn't do all their spots they might get less than 27 stars from Da Meltz and Tony would not look favourably on that. That is the career they built for themselves, they can't turn their backs on it now. 

Obviously, like who like and no one is obligated to be a fan of anyone, but I'm amazed that this is still an opinion that exists about the Bucks in 2024. 

19 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

I think Cody will win the title at Summerslam, and I think I'm OK with that now. Thinking back, very, very few title wins that truly meant something to me happened at Wrestlemania - Daniel Bryan at 30 and Kofi Kingston at 35; but outside of that, most of the victories that gave me goosebumps happened elsewhere. Bryan defeating Cena at Summerslam; Eddie Guerrero winning at No Way Out; CM Punk at Money In the Bank; Jeff Hardy at Armageddon...

As long as the crowd are into it, and the build-up is good, Rhodes winning the belt on a stage that isn't Wrestlemania can still feel really special. 

I may be misremembering here, but hasn't he spoken to or alluded to wanting to win it specifically at mania?

That "However..." though 

21 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Possibly. But not the extent he'll go back to AEW.

Oh yeah that's not happening, hilarious though it would be for him to finish the story by winning the international title.

2 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Because the loss last year has badly affected the support he's getting, hasn't it.

There does come a point where the baby-face who can't get it done loses momentum fast though. Obviously that's not happened yet, and I don't know if it would happen if he doesn't win at this mania, but the longer it goes, the closer  it gets.

Just started a new speechwriting job back in the civil service after finishing up at Ucas and it's been quite the start. Expecting a simple, dull brief to work through but have ended up writing about stuff in the headlines, which is nuts. Good team so far so I'm hoping this will be a good fit for me

15 minutes ago, air_raid said:

I’ve missed a step. What main event does Raw GM Pearce think he’s got, and what exactly does Rock “take” before Cody recovers to challenge SmackDowns Randy Orton and Rock fights SmackDowns Roman Reigns?

I told you it was a terrible idea.

Edit: although "because the integrity of the brand split" isn't among the reasons why it's a terrible idea.