FUM

I hope Mahabali Shera goes to the absolute top. I’ve never even seen him wrestle or his character but seems an absolute gem of a person. It’s rare for wrestlers to come off as likeable as he has, granted I’ve only seen 4 episodes so far.

6 minutes ago, Supremo said:

I’d love to know why pro-wrestling doesn’t count when it comes to the actor’s strike. As I understand it, they aren’t even allowed to do press or promote their work whilst the strike is on, so why can they go and perform a role that’s scripted and broadcast on national TV? Is wrestling just considered so low rent that nobody cares? Can Vin Diesel join Cena and The Rock and just carry on the Fast and Furious universe on Smackdown?

Wrestlers rather famously aren’t unionised I guess is the reason.

I’m so glad they allowed this a proper surprise moment, they’re a rarity today as stuff is always announced for the ratings pop. 

1 hour ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

This is what Wiki says about that (Spoilers as long)

  Reveal hidden contents

On the day of the event, WWE claimed an attendance of 101,763^[76] in the AT&T Stadium, which surpassed the previous WWE-claimed record of 93,173 for WrestleMania III in 1987. Also, WWE reported the event grossing $17.3 million for WWE's highest-grossing live event, and surpassing the previous year's $12.6 million.^[76][77] However, journalist Dave Meltzer initially reported 93,730 as "the attendance as would be normally announced for an event" with a total 97,769 people in the stadium if one includes stadium personnel, WWE personnel, etc. Meltzer attributed the exaggeration due to WWE not wanting to let down their fans after WWE's promoting "from the start of drawing 100,000 people" to WrestleMania 32. The 93,730 figure would still be WWE's highest attended event, as according to Meltzer the previous record was the 1992 SummerSlam event at 79,127, while WrestleMania III did "more than 78,000".^[20] Meanwhile, Meltzer endorsed the grossing figure as "either accurate or very close".^[78] Meltzer would later clarify the actual fan attendance as being 80,709;^[1] this figure was also supported by Fightful who were provided the turnstile count by the Arlington Police Department.^[2]

In a conference call in February 2017, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon said, "We were proud to set our attendance record of over 100,000, which includes, by the way, ushers and ticket takers and all of that. It wasn't 101,000 paid, but nonetheless, it was a record for us."^[7

 

I think, as said in other posts, the turnstile count isn’t the full attendance due to VIP etc. and WM32 is believed to have had about 85k once the rest is counted. I’m sure I read a journo (name escapes me) report that Tony was very specifically using the word “paid” because of this as WM32 reached its attendance due to a lot more sponsors or whatever it is that tops it up.

Was it not accepted that WrestleMania 32 was a higher attendance anyway and that’s why Tony was being very specific to use the word “paid”?

AI software like this genuinely concerns me for what people can be accused of without it being challenged.

22 minutes ago, air_raid said:

One of the biggest problems I have with the draft/brand split era is when they throw out the concept of "trade" because ultimately no fucker would be stupid enough to trade Cody away, so it never makes sense.

I think the way they have pitched things now you can get away with that though. There isn’t a head of either show making those decisions to make it look stupid - Pearce has pitched it that the board have essentially traded someone and why wouldn’t the board want to go with Cody’s pitch of challenging Roman?

Good to know we are back to the “don’t fully capitalise on that guys popularity” chat that we had when Sami Zayn was ready to have a chance taken on him.

In roundabouts, much like The Bloodline story.

Surely the likelihood here is Cody has been a bit fly and got himself traded to SmackDown with Jey Uso offered up as a replacement so he can go after Roman?

I’ve not watched the rest but I was about to go to bed as I was absolutely shattered then couldn’t take my eyes off Miro v Hobbs so had to wait till that finished. Incredible stuff.

LA Knight is evidence they have no idea how to book a face. Those reactions will die soon if he continues the “do you know how hard I’ve worked” patter and the crap jokes that they have tried with every other failed project. They seem to lose all semblance of what made someone popular whenever it happens.

Really enjoyed it. Only real issue with it was zero break in the action - AEW could get better on PPV at throwing in a wee interview or something to let things calm down. That was just from TV watching though, it didn’t seem to affect the crowd.

I’m not big on violence like I used to be but the Stadium Stampede was great fun even if it didn’t reach the heights of previous ones. I was almost sick when Moxley had those skewers in his head right enough - not sure how Renee puts up with it.

The main event was brilliant and a proper wow moment when MJF threw his belt at Cole.

Good to see Grado get his flowers, a great pop. Not bad for a guy some said is only known in Scotland. Shame Madonna is an arsehole.

1 hour ago, OzExile said:

God, that Smackdown turned me into a blubbering mess. It was a fantastic tribute, especially the ending. Maybe we will see the talent deliver video tributes on Raw next week. 

I know what they were trying to do but it could have done without trying to sell Payback throughout to be honest. Not sure I’ve ever seen a less hardcore ‘hardcore match’ either. I imagine Bo Dallas wasn’t up to it so soon as strange he would be under contract and not appear otherwise which is entirely understandable.

I absolutely hate to criticise any aspect though for what it was as some parts were extremely classy. Full credit to them either way. Nobody does a video package like WWE, I was never huge on Bray but that brought a tear along with the fans chanting at the end of it.

I had read a few weeks ago that the mystery illness he had suffered was potentially life threatening but that he was getting better and getting ready to come back. Horrible and totally unexpected. RIP.

There was a period OVW was genuinely brilliant around the era of The Spirit Squad, Armando Alejandro Estrada and CM Punk. I used to download it on XWT and it was my favourite show on TV at the time.

I’m a sucker for any wrestling doc so looking forward to this.

1 minute ago, Browser Brady said:

Is there anything suss about the timing of the reports all coming out this week ?

 

As I understand it, some of these happened weeks ago but are only surfacing now.

 

Or did the CM Punk post match comments kick all this off .

It’s just common in life. One thing comes out and people start talking on other things.

According to Alvarez, Punk text Hangman and apologised for his promo.

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

They’re lifted up because they’re working with Roman. Or rather, they’re there because he is. They’ve not been put in a position to stay there.

I can’t see a world where Jey Uso works PPV main events after the Bloodline saga, can you?

Within a year of this being over The Uso’s will be back together.

You said yourself that you could have lived with the story carrying on without Roman and are now saying they can’t stay where they are without him.

In a world where there is two Championships to compete for then I can absolutely see a world where Jey Uso is a main event level superstar on his own and he’s been leading SmackDown for a number of weeks when Roman wasn’t there and doing a fine job. I can also see the same in Solo’s future. Jimmy, not so much.

Of course they’ll be back together, they told us in their interview with Ariel they don’t really have an interest in being singles other than a feud with each other. It doesn’t mean Jey isn’t capable of being a singles though if they are back together.

1 hour ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

It’s increasingly outrageous that Roman Reigns - on a limited schedule - is continuing to isolate himself to work with his family of mid-carders, without actually elevating anyone.

I’m bored of the storyline too but that’s just not true. There are full crowds chanting Jey Uso’s name and giving it the big “woah” whenever Solo stares down Roman. He’s still lifting them up and I doubt anyone at all would care about any of the three brothers if Roman hadn’t been involved.

He’s put them in a position he can probably leave the storyline of The Usos and people would still be interested.

56 minutes ago, Chili said:

Look I absolutely love Grado, but they've nearly sold the fucker out already and Vince McMahon didn't need to add Nick Owen & Anne Diamond to Summerslam 1992.

You can’t just sell out then think that’s the job done. You then need to deliver a show or the faith is lost and you’ll never be doing the same again. 1992 and 2023 aren’t comparable worlds in the majority of businesses especially wrestling before it’s taken into account that SummerSlam was the first ever PPV on UK soil from the biggest wrestling company in the world.

Again, it doesn’t have to be Grado but the show needs something different from their norm and from what the card at All Out the next week could have been.

6 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

- yes obviously Scotland is part of the UK but All In is in ENGLAND where Grado is not a household name or draw and especially not in London. Plus the event is being broadcasted internationally, I don't think appealing to the Scottish audience is anywhere near top of Tony Khan's priorities if it's even one of them at all. 

- I don't believe Grado is a genuine household name in Scotland but if I'm wrong and he is, so what? There's no doubt lots of great things famous in Scotland that are famous only in Scotland. Why would you ever want to put any of them on All In?

- licensing Like A Prayer will cost hundreds of thousands if not more. Way more than a YouTube clip going viral would be worth.

But hey, weirder things have happened. I'd be fine with him getting a spot in a giant battle royale or something. 

It’s not about appealing to the Scottish audience as such, it is being pitched as a UK show and will have a large number of Scots in attendance - it’s about appealing to those in attendance.

Grado is just about a household name in Scotland. I imagine you will find little people that aren’t at least aware of who he is or could call out his face. He is in two of the biggest Scottish comedy shows of recent years, one of which does about 2million in ratings every week (Two Doors Down is fantastic, check it out if you haven’t seen it before). He hosts a radio show, has been in a soap opera, has had smaller roles in that Morse prequel and is on the rebooted GamesMaster. I get he is likely far more known in Scotland than England but again it’s a UK show where there will be Scottish fans, a potential viral moment (over 3m on YouTube have watched it happen in ICW) and all it takes is a quick bit of comms and the radio clip to introduce him wider.

Having said all that, it doesn’t need to be Grado. The show just needs something to feel different as right now the card just seems to be heading the way of your average PPV when I think if you’re actively now calling it the biggest event in history then it needs a spectacle.

4 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

I thought people suggesting Grado vs Jarrett on here we're just joking?! 

Why would booking a Z-list celebrity (in Scotland only, really) that no one actually gives a shit about in a singles match on your biggest show ever be a genuinely realistically good thing? It'd be utter fucking stupidity on every level.

Scotland is part of the UK funnily enough despite the disregard there but leaving that aside for now. Grado was a huge factor in the rejuvenated wrestling scene across the UK. He’s been on ITV wrestling, he’s been in Impact wrestling, he’s pretty mainstream in Scotland - as far as celebrities with a wrestling connection go for your biggest show ever you can do much worse than Grado and if Tony paid for Like A Prayer then he has a pretty viral moment on his hands. People can say what they like about Grado but he’s instantly recognisable in a part of the UK and to disregard his potential to draw a certain viewership is nonsense. In a world driven by internet clicks and likes, that moment at Wembley with that theme is an open goal.

Edit: Also, Jarrett v Grado isn’t just a suggestion off some radio appearance either. The two have actively had storyline beef when they’ve been around shows with each other for a long time.

I don’t think injuries necessarily prevent a token appearance on the show either. I imagine Jamie may accompany Britt to the ring but be given a small moment of her own entrance and can easily do something with Danielson too. Possible the posters are an indication these people will still appear even if not in a wrestling capacity.

It’s definitely not a bad card and will undoubtedly be a good show with the crowd but I think the feeling from some of this is sort of WrestleMania for AEW so there needs to be something (or a couple of things) that stands out different from anything they’d normally do. I actually think if Grado v Jarrett was to be booked then that would be one of those things, whether people want to admit it’s a big deal in an AEW setting or not it’s a huge deal in a UK stadium setting. If you could then look to get some sort of decent level celebrity for a highlight reel type thing for Jericho or something like that then again that makes it stand out. 

Are we at the stage where we accept the Womens Tag Championships are cursed?

2 hours ago, FelatioLips said:

Years of moaning nobody gets over (and rightfully so in most respects) and finally someone does and it's suddenly "no not like that".

LA Knight might just be a generic guy with a few catchphrases but he's over and he's moving merch and he's getting viral online and everything WWE want from a guy they probably haven't invested too much in.

People do get over tbf. They generally get their wings clipped though which is more the issue.