Jump to content

Duke

Paid Members
  • Posts

    3,510
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Duke

  1. I think they're doing a tournament because Tony wants the belt to be something that you have to earn and build towards. He also, fairly clearly, didn't want to crown new trios champs and new heavyweight champ in one night. In a vacuum, it's definitely what they should do. The problem is that AEW isn't in a vacuum, it's in a world already filled with tournaments. This is why you don't do tournaments all the time Tony, sometimes you need one!

    Insincere  babyface MJF was the absolute best, clearly a dig at insincere babyface CM Punk (even down to calling someone fat and then apologising, although that probably wasn't the best homage he could've done). I was hoping it was last longer, but there we are. 

    Moxley just being too old for all this shit (at 36) was an excellent voice of the company. Bravo.

    Right team won the trios match, and they've got all sorts of opportunities for some bangers in the near future. 

    I still don't care about Toni Storm, I'm afraid. 

    Swerve in our Glory are going full heel and it's going to be excellent. I'd still have them beat the Acclaimed at Arthur Ashe, I really don't think it's time for them to win yet, but I appreciate I'm probably in the minority on that. Basically I want the next team feuding for the belts to be FTR, and I think that feud needs to be with Swerve and Lee, unless they want to test how much everyone loves the Acclaimed..

    I'm excited to see what happens with Stokeley's crew, particularly because I'm hoping Page and Moriarty do well out of it. I'm not bothered about the Ass boys as anything other than fodder.

    Wheeler Yuta has become an afterthought pretty fast, huh.

    A pretty good show, considering, and it certainly buys legal some time to do their investigation. IT surely can't end with them all leaving, could it?

    Edit: Saw a few people saying that they thought Sympathy for the Devil was going to be MJF's new song, but he went back to his old song BY THE END OF THE SHOW, so it seemed fairly unlikely, astronomical costs aside.

  2. I can't imagine that Potter hasn't said to the hierarchy that if they want him, they're looking at a five-year plan and even saying that he can't guarantee CL football in season 1.

    If Chelsea are approaching Potter, then their intent at least is to give him Klopp-level time, where success isn't instantaneous. The challenge will be sticking to that 6 months down the line when we're 6th.

    This is a test of Potter. Aside from having to do more of everything, more egos, more money, more players, he's also having to cope with something he's never done before, European football, lots of midweek games, going far in tournaments. I'm not saying he can't do that, but he's never had the change before. He's also got a level of ego that he's never had to deal with before, and we'll see how that goes. Don't be surprised if Auba is off in January. Does Colwill have a recall clause?

    This is a test of the owners. They're hopefully getting someone who fits their intended ethos and is playing an infinite game. They're also getting someone who isn't "bigger" to the club than them, which may help with back office harmony. He's an exciting manager in terms of how he brings players through and getting a squad purring, but the Chelsea culture NEEDS to change for him to be remotely worth the investment. There's potential for him to be Chelsea's Fergie (whatever that looks like in 2022), but as well as him needing to perform, the club does. Maybe having Potter in will entice a sporting director who was less sure that Chelsea had changed. Either way, that role just became even more urgent

    This is a test of the fans. All the top of the Chelsea hierarchy are gone. All of them. In terms of the club's voice, the only remnant is the fans. We're used to playing season-to-season, finite games. We're used to immediate success. We're used to superstars and individuals who cost a lot of money and have a lot of swagger. It's clear that those expectations haven't changed under the new ownershup. They need to. All signs point to not getting what we're used to under Potter. But maybe, just maybe, we'll get something better, if we're patient (we won't be).

  3. 37 minutes ago, Factotum said:

    So what? Stupid decisions when you're in a position of power have consequences

    So mitigating circumstances matter when you're dealing with people you have a long-term, ongoing relationship with. And saying that "no one with any sense" would do something like the Bucks did is ignoring the circumstances around the situation.

    Yes, things would have been better if they'd acted perfectly rationally, but I suspect they weren't feeling particularly rational at that time, if for no other reason than physical confrontation doesn't seem the be Bucks usual style.

  4. 36 minutes ago, Factotum said:

    Anyone with any sense would have waited till the actual boss was finished and had the head of TR go to him. The stupidity of some of these people is quite something

    It was straight after a big show where they were all knackered and adrenaline was pumping, and they'd just been called out publicly. In those circumstances a lot of people make stupid decisions.

  5. Suspect there is more to this. It's a huge turnaround from the previous suggestions of giving time and heavily investing in him, and the contract talks we'd mentioned. He does have a tendency to fall out with hierarchy...

     

    Edit: Stuff from journos saying that the decision to sack him was made before the Zagreb loss, i.e after beating west ham. 

    He's been ornery since pre-season, perhaps they decided enough was enough?

     

  6. Apologies if it's already been posted and I didn't see it, but numerous sourced have said that Punk threw the first punch and THAT ACE STEEL THREW A CHAIR AT NICK AND BIT KENNY OMEGA. Aside from possibly taking the whole "in Chicago we kill the weak and eat them" too far he's got to be done, right? Can't imagine things between the bucks and punk being better after that.

  7. 25 minutes ago, Supremo said:

    Reports that Punk threw a punch at the Young Bucks. The same thing Eddie Kingston got suspended for.

    Moxley as the first ever two-time Interim Champ this Wednesday?

    If Punks not suspended Eddie Kingston is going to lose his mind.

    If Punk is suspended he will lose his mind.

     

  8. 2 hours ago, air_raid said:

    That part I didn't have any issue with, if we're kayfabing then its Bret taking the piss out of Shawn's "pussyfoot injury" in 97 again. In fact, nothing Toni said is problematic if its in the context of a worked wrestling interview. The problem they've got is that the events of this presser have baffled everyone into not knowing whether its a work or whether EVERYONE is just going into business for themselves.

    It's a minor thing, but Storm and Rosa are meant to be friends, they're not exactly Bret and Shawn.

    You're right though, the issues around AEW generally and this interim women's belt in particular make it a bigger thing than it should be 

  9. Just watched Swerve in our Glory's part in the presser and I thought they were great. They're different men but united by the chips on their shoulders and convinced they're the best. Loved the swagger, hope to see more of it.

     

    Quote

    This is a really annoying one for me, because her line about "let me know when you're not injured and I'll beat you" is being misinterpreted by some bellends that Thunder Rosa just wanted to avoid doing the job, whereas the line is clearly an in-character line where one wrestler says they'll beat another wrestler - in a match, you know, in the story. Not that "Oh, when you're not injured you can come back and put me over like you were meant to" which quite frankly is some WCW shit

    IT's the "Thunder Rosa says she's injured" bit. It's not like those rumours haven't been doing the rounds all week. She's either done that deliberately or she's worded that very weirdly and badly. 

     

    Edit: Oh yeah, why are they letting a 12 year old into this scrum? Embarrassing.

  10. I'm 100% #TeamHanger on this one. Punk clearly didn't know those lines in his promo were coming, but it didn't come across at a shoot, brother at the time, just a follow on from the Kingston feud and a nuance to what Punk had been like on screen. Presumably it referenced some of the problems that Punk already had with him, but that wasn't apparent at the time, and to be honest just added some real conflict to a face v face feud. 

    It is stupid if Punk offered Hangman advice and he turned it down, though I can totally believe that being a pride thing where he reacted badly, or Punk big timed him. It's definitely not worth going off on him in a presser.

    Plus, you know, Punk's reaction proves Hangman right just a little bit. 

  11. Did Punk actually get asked a question about Colt? The feed I saw just started with Punk asking the guy if he was mates with him, having that question absolutely fail to set him up and then go off an one regardless.

  12. 25 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

    Far be it from me to defend Punk, but does it really? It’s not like he ever tries to hide who he is. Tony Khan should haven known what he was signing in Punk, but is seemingly too passive to keep control of a toxic situation.

    Yeah, I think so. When he first arrived he was trying to be the happy warrior, but that's dropped over the last few months and he's reminded everyone who he actually is, a less athletic Cristiano Ronaldo who thinks he's Wolverine.

    Your second sentence is bang on though, it does feel like Tony lacks the leadership skills to actually manage this situation. Vince would've taken him aside and told him about how he wants to eat people in wheelchairs by now.

    Quote

    It feels like the company is going through a period of growing pains, and I suspect it’ll get messier before it gets cleaner.

    I think this is true, but I'd go farther and say wrestling is going through some growing pains, at least with how it handles media and outside attention. The previous norm of "tell no one anything" doesn't work in 2022 (and creates environments that cover up for people like Vince and Johnny Ace) but now they've over-corrected to leaking all sorts of crap.

    Acting like Punk did should be grounds for suspension, but he won't get it because he's the champion and they've just set up the programme, so he now knows he can say what he wants, like Scott Steiner in 99.

  13. 35 minutes ago, Loki said:

    I know you’re probably right but it’ll be such a shame as surely nobody can deny Moxley is on the run of his life.

    The only scenario I’d enjoy is if they go full sports entertainment.  Have a proper 100% Punk heel turn where he becomes everything his fans hate.  Have Tony Khan come down and hand him a steel chair to wallop Moxley for the win and then have Punk be a fully smug corporate champion, talking about buyrates and spots on the card, the two of them sitting together at press conferences looking like arseholes whilst Moxley rages through the crowd at tv looking to force a rematch and the BCC beat up all of Khan’s chosen stars.

    After years of slightly po-faced “who’s the best wrestler who’s good at wrestling” AEW it’d be nice to have a bit of big drama.

     

    Replace Tony Khan in that plan with MJF and I think you might be onto something.

    Well ok, maybe that's a bad plan, but I think it speaks to AEW not having a top heel ATM and really needing one. 

     

  14. As soon as I saw the Cody video package I realised that Roman was going over, because the build to Cody taking it off him has started. If it turns out that happens before the Rumble, then I guess that's fine.

    Unfortunately, Drew has been sacrificed on the altar now. I don't think he's completely done or anything, but he's going to need some real rehab to be a proper challenger again. I suppose that's fine though as he's not exactly in the plans going forward. No idea where he goes from here though.

  15. I think the key to it is that it's the fight that WWE picked. AEW didn't go after them, they figured that if they moved to wednesday and made it two hours that it would either slow AEW down or stop them getting a good TV deal, and that didn't work and they lost the ratings war most weeks, and now most of the big stars from NXT in that era work for AEW.

    To use language HHH would prefer: AEW didn't conquer them, but WWE sent troops they thought would be good enough to stop the insurgency and they lost.

    He is, as Supes says, never ever going to admit that in an interview like this.

  16. 45 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

    There is a distinction between being conservative and being a Conservative. I can understand why some people voted for them in the last election but if they do so again I lose all sympathy for them. 

    Absolutely, and I chose my words deliberately on that one.

    So all people who are part of the conservative party in any way are Tories and therefore cunts?

    Would this include people who are involved mostly local level, think the current lot are a shit but also think the best way to sort the party is from within?

    This isn't leading to me starting an argument, I'm kicking stuff around.

  17. It's fine though, we're selling Batshuayi to Forest.

     

    This window is a complete reset, Sterling and Fofana aside. Loads of deadwood being cleared by hook or by crook and a couple of stop gaps to (in theory) stay competitive before sorting things out more next year.

     

    When John Terry takes charge.

    Doesn't matter anyway, no one else is winning anything in this league until Haaland joins Real Madrid and Pep decides he's bored and goes to PSG.

  18. The Punk stuff got me straight back into their match. They're trying to go full Rocky mode with him, and I'm down with it. He doesn't know what his foot is going to be able to do, he's not the same guy he was but damn it he's going to fight anyway. 

    I'm a bit surprised at the negativity, I wonder if this is something that might work better for American audiences? I agree that it was too much in one segment, and should've happened over a few weeks, but it's what they were stuck with. I thought the crowd reaction was fine, but I wasn't looking at it particularly hard so may well have not noticed.

    While I don't think calling someone a fat virgin was in the plan for the promo, it does play into the stuff others have said in Punk feuds, that he talks a good game but is actually completely full of it and you see the nastiness come out when he's rattled. 

    The challenge is what you do on Sunday. This still really isn't time for Mox to lose, and I think he loses more by not being champion, but after that set up Punk can't lose right? I mean, unless they go full Rocky and he just about loses but does so in such a way that he goes out strong? Not sure.

    I'm still really enjoying AEW, and I'm surprised how much some people have turned on it lately. Not accusing anyone of faking their opinions to be cool though, like what you like, but I enjoy myself every week.

    I'm looking forward to Luchasaurus turning on Jungle Boy on Sunday. I'm looking forward to Hanger and the DO against the Elite, and watching FTR against the MCMG (and probably Wardlow powerbombing Satnam Singh). The title match will be heated and really good, I'm sure.

  19. 30 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

    PSG aside (maybe even a little bit), how much is Chelsea a 'project' club right now? If it's not, it would be a massive disaster. 

    It's massively a project club at the moment, based on what the owners are saying. That's why Tuchel seems so safe, he's built up cred and they want to invest long term. It may well even work, though I'm concerned about his volatility.

     

×
×
  • Create New...