Duke

34 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

Volunteering to replace MJF in the main event is one hell of a thing to do if you’re ’the devil’. My guess is that they’re reveal that it was MJF all along. 

Nah, because the devil clearly wants to keep max isolated but also wants to be the one to beat him, hence attacking Jay in the first place. The devil has never done anything to intentionally jeopardise MJF, just to stop him making friends.

The bigger problem with my theory is "what would Cole have done if Max hadn't come out"

The biggest problem is "why not get Joe to do it, as he has a vested interest in MJF retaining"

My personal head canon for the main event was

1) we didn't see the devil because Adam Cole was actually in the building and was meant to be. All the stupid video call stuff, and the Roddy's house has no signal stuff, is an alibi, but he needed to be accounted for tonight.

2) he got cleared to compete because, in storyline, he's not actually injured. He's like Roddy

This still leaves a lot to be explained, but if Cole is the devil it's closer to making sense (alright, just barely). 

32 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

The funniest thing about that picture is Mudryk being offside. What a brain dead player. In fact, I don't think the Chelsea players remembered you can't be off in your own half last night. 

Was driving me (and, clearly, Poch) mad the whole time he was on. You're the fastest player on the pitch and they're playing a line so high it's basically a chemtrail! There's no need to ever be offside ever!

This was the football equivalent of the fight against the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, right down to Chelsea being confused and scared and Spurs trying to bite knees off.

It feels like Ange told the Spurs players at half time that this Chelsea team are young and fragile so if you get at them they'll crumble and if so he was totally, totally right. We were the better team for the second half of the first half but Tottenham's renewed aggression in the second clearly spooked us.

Oh and it's not important, but I felt sorry for Sterling getting his goal in the first half ruled out. He can't help that he runs like that!

43 minutes ago, Doog said:

People can chuck the Saudi Arabia stuff around all they like, but the fact is a lot of the big club fans just don't like another club challenging them. . 

It's alright lads, let me talk to him. He needs someone that's been there before.

Listen, I'm a Chelsea fan. I've been there. You're just pleased the club is being well run and doing well, and more power to you. And in 20 years time, when you've won the Prem and the UCL and are in a three way race with City and Norwich after they got bought by China, it'll be great.

But the jokes about the blood money won't stop. You'll say they're just jealous, but deep down, you'll know they're not. You'll know that the charges stick. You'll feel a little bit of revulsion every time you think about it, like that time you sat next to the snotty kid  who used to cack himself at school because he had a playstation.

It won't go away. You'll just have to learn to live with it.

And them some Americans will come in and blow everything up. You'll suddenly be awful but at least you won't feel as bad about where the money comes from. And that'll feel worth it. 

One day, I'm sure it'll feel worth it.

The "how big is big" discourse misses the larger issue, which is that Tony Khan should only be on TV for the biggest of the big announcements because he's an absolute geek with no charisma or ability to deliver anything resembling a good promo. "My parents put their tree up in July haha". Dreadful.

In fact, he should never be on TV for anything. Get Tony Schiavone to do it.

The only other comment I have on the show is that the last thing AEW needs is another 50+ year old on TV. I realise Jericho has entered his Hull Hogan "jobs for the boys" stage, but someone needs to get him to pack that in.

Do people think when the WWE add boos they just play booing noises over the speaker in the arena?

Edit: never mind

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

Imagine being the poor sod at Brent Council having to deal with this.

Yeah this was my thought too. That's the head of environment and whoever the hell he's getting to actually check this information. The London Borough of Brent presumably has other things to be getting on with. FOIs are a pain in the arse at the best of times when they're being used for stuff like this.

Id be more than happy to see Nick Nemeth against Orange Cassidy

1 hour ago, David said:

Putting aside his obvious penchant for moaning and bitching, I doubt there's anyone in that AEW locker room that Punk wouldn't be able to handle in a one-on-one fight. Not because he's a tough guy, but because he's a trained fighter. It's that simple.

Obviously forgotten Double J Double M A.

As has been mentioned a few times already, it seems really unlikely Khan would say "fear for my life" if his lawyers didn't think they could defend that statement. There's should be no doubt that they will have signed off what he said at the start of Collision.

You guys know that Moo is a billionaire, right?

57 minutes ago, Michael_3165 said:

Crazy bumps is one thing, allowing someone to stab you in the head is completely different entirely. 

In the sense that the crazy bumps are significantly more dangerous for far less reaction?

If Punk is going to be suspended for shows in Chicago, what's the point of him?

I don't have mates that like wrestling. Well, I have one, but he moved to Northern Ireland, so he doesn't really count. Because of that, I don't really go to shows. Before last night, I've been to two in my life. The first was when I worked the boxes at the Nottingham Arena for one of those UK house show tours WWE do. I've never had any desire to go to one of those, they're never connected to the wider story of what's going on and I always assumed they'd be a bit half arsed. I wasn't exactly dossing off work to try and get a glimpse, if you get my meaning. I did, to be fair, get to go in an empty box for Brothers of Destruction v Regal and Finlay, so I'm grateful for that, but I wasn't exactly at the show, you know? 

The second was TakeOver London. My girlfriend (now wife) came with me, and, bless her, basically ruined the experience. There were two acts I really looking forward to seeing. American Alpha, who were super hot at the time, and I was hopeful that Sami Zayn would come back from his injury.  My girlfriend  got there a bit late, brought a big bag that obviously got checked (just after the Paris attacks, so checking was stricter), which meant we missed American Alpha, and she got me to leave early, missing the dark match which had the return of Sami Zayn. She also was clearly bored out of her mind. I think she got a bok out at one point. In her defence, she found the whole thing a bit aggressive. That's partly because it was, but it's also partly because of what happened in the first five minutes. Emma didn't know who anyone was and had no interest, so when thousands of people started chanting "Fuck you Emma" over and over, it took her a bit by surprise. Not the best introduction, you understand.

Since then, I basically resigned myself to not going to shows. I've been looking enviously at you bastards going to Manias, or Clash at the castle or whatever, knowing that's just not a budget priority for us. Since having kids that's gotten even less likely. So All In coming to town was a massive opportunity for me. I've been far more into AEW than WWE, partly because it's easier to stay in touch with, but also because I prefer the pace of match, I prefer the sense of humour and I prefer the feel. When they announced they were doing a show that was big, that was local and that had budget friendly seating options, I figured this was my chance.

I got in contact with my mate, hoping he'd come over. No such luck. I tried a couple of casuals who might be up for a cheaper ticket, nope. My wife refused before I'd even asked, the fuck you's still echoing in the corridors of her mind, which meant I had to go by myself.

I'm not a go by yourself kind of person. I know some people like to do that, even prefer it, but I am not that guy. So choosing to go by myself was a risk, and to be honest on the journey there I was starting to get nervous. Was I just going to be standing in queues looking at my phone for hours? What if the show was crap? Would I be able to get into it without anyone else there to process it with? 

It's worth saying at this point, I've also not been to this Wembley before. Walking up Olympic way was pretty special for me. The advantage of going on my own is that I could pick up the sights and the sounds, and, since this was wrestling, more than a few smells. If you go to a big football match there's always an edge of tribalism to it, but there just wasn't here. It was just excitement and joy and positivity. Some proper smart fans, some super cas, some very intense cosplayers, the whole spectrum of humanity, with a particular emphasis toward over weight and beardy men, but the rest were there too if you looked. 

It turns out, even the cheap seats at Wembley are pretty good. I wasn't as well off as my work colleague who was up near Mercedes Mone, but I got value for it. I've hurt my foot, so I sat down early and watched as the place slowly filled up. The noise didn't so much slowly come to a crescendo as start with a bang as the tag match started, and it just stayed hot from there. I thought we'd run out of energy, but we didn't. The matches kept delivering and the crowd kept asking for more. It tells you something about how invested we got that there was genuine anger at the possibility of a draw in the main, as if they'd ever do that for this match on this show? I chatted to the people around me, probably more than they'd like, but sorry lads, I'm an extrovert. Myworries about not getting invested from the view or being by myself got blown away by the Punk match as we all sang and cheered and chanted for Joe. As an aside, the two guys next to me were cheering for Punk and started getting more than a little confused to see how much of a minority they were. Watching their uneasy faces as the people around them chanted "Joe! Joe! Joe!" will stick with me, as will the guy in front of me who was...well let's just say it was clear from his appearance that he was a big House of Black fan. The way his body deflated when they lost was equal parts hilarious and heartwarming.

I'd been up since 5:30 that morning, so don't get me wrong, when the show finished, I was ready for it to be finished, but that just meant I wasn't deflated when I left. The show hit all my hopes and none of my concerns were meritted, other than having to remortgage my house to buy some nachos. Yeah, it took 3 hours and some inventive use of the transport system to get home, and yes I'm still in my dressing down at 11:30 this morning and yes I spent more than I'd probably have liked, but if you can't have days like that sometimes, what's even the point? 

As for the matches, that's all already covered, and this post is already way too long. I just wanted to take time to process what was an unusually special day for me. Not the best day of my life, not something I'll be telling my children about in 20 years, but still a special day. A day I'm grateful for and an experience I'll remember. Here's hoping I can make the next one. And hey, maybe I'll actually get some friends for it.

People thought being a dick and overly harsh was cool in the mid 2000s. It wasn't just young people, it was a whole internet culture.

A stupid, stupid culture*

*That I definitely thought was awesome when I was 15.

Probably a minority opinion, but I think I'd rather have an All-Star game (proceeds to the football pyramid) than the community shield.

Your bacon is undercooked, one of your egg yolks is burst, there's no plate for your toast, the black pudding is covered in beans without intent and they expect you to eat the whole thing with just a knife.

10/10? I ask you...

12 hours ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

No, as like I say the FA have tried to make a broader point - for whatever reason you may want to speculate on.

I don’t think I need to go into details, but I’m pretty solid on this stuff. I’m not outside the tent pissing in, as it were.

This gets half the way there: https://www.sportbible.com/football/fear-that-football-matches-could-be-postponed-next-weekend-as-well-20220909

 

Daz Meltz~!

1 hour ago, air_raid said:

Anyone else quietly pleased the football is off? Spurs played near enough their best team against Marseille, I’m delighted they get more rest before Man City.

Transport and hotel costs down the train notwithstanding and unfortunate for those affected but for those of us restricted to Iraqi Goals….

Chelsea fans are. More than half a day for Potter to meet the squad? It's like having ab international break except players are resting. Great time to sack a manager.

Almost...like.. they knew...

I think we probably do need meltdowns though. Not because I'm looking at the table but because Arsenal should've finished higher last season but bottled at the last minute and then added to their squad, and Tottenham have been pretty class since Conte took over, much better than Chelsea. Plus, both of them seem capable of scoring goals.

3rd, 4th and 5th is going to be loads closer (and 2nd, come to think of it) this season, and that's without the mentality.

I'm not saying we can't finish top 4, I'm just saying it's not as simple as "if we don't Potter's just not that good".

That's without evening mentioning the creaky midfield the goalkeeper who's struggling to keep goal.

12 minutes ago, TheDude said:

Sorry, Phil, Did I offend you? Have another Pespi.

Like Cicero in his prime.

Just now, CleetusVanDamme said:

And if Tuchel missed out this season it'd be a massive underperformance with this squad as well. Liverpool should be fine for top four at worst too.

So are Spurs gonna Spurs or are Arsenal gonna Arsenal?

4 hours ago, CleetusVanDamme said:

If Potter doesn't have us in the Champions League next season then he's just plain not that good. If he can't achieve that now with this squad there's no chance I'll have any faith in him winning the big ones in the future.

I don't think most people predicted us to be in the champions league next season when Tuchel was in charge tbf. That was admittedly before Liverpool's mojo failed them