David

WEEK 3 Fixtures

Thursday September 21st

New York Giants @ San Francisco 49ers

Sunday September 24th

Indianapolis Colts @ Baltimore Ravens

Tennessee Titans @ Cleveland Browns

Atlanta Falcons @ Detroit Lions

New Orleans Saints @ Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans @ Jacksonville Jaguars

Denver Broncos @ Miami Dolphins

Los Angeles Chargers @ Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots @ New York Jets

Buffalo Bills @ Washington Commanders

Carolina Panthers @ Seattle Seahawks

Dallas Cowboys @ Arizona Cardinals

Chicago Bears @ Kansas City Chiefs

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Las Vegas Raiders

Monday September 25th

Philadelphia Eagles @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Los Angeles Rams @ Cincinnati Bengals

In this instance, a third fight is absolutely the right thing to do. 

Not seen much mention of Benn's fight. I assumed it would be a big deal when he came back.

2 hours ago, johnnyboy said:

 

 

Now that's some policies I can get behind! Match that, Starmer! 

1 hour ago, King Coconut said:

Do forums even still exist?

Just like Maxim, Nuts, Russell Brand's career, and Man United's reputation as a big club, they're all either dead or slowly dying out.

4 hours ago, Loki said:

So if Brand is a sex offender, a lot of people would have to re-assess their own behaviour, and we can't have that!

If? Isn't it confirmed? Surely he's not being shut down left, right & centre on accusations alone? 

EDIT: Just had a quick scan of the news. It isn't just accusations. There's rape centre reports, etc, to back it up. So I'd say it's pretty much confirmed. There's no ifs or buts about it.

I've just caught up on all this. Absolutely not surprising when you look at how he's acted in the past in public. He's a prick.

19 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

Indeed. Except when the corporate boss was someone hated, he was the good guy fighting the good fight. But when the corporate boss is someone liked? He is the bad guy and should leave the nice man alone. 

He feared for his life, Keith. Show some compassion, you heartless sod.

8 hours ago, gmoney said:

Does CM Punk go on about being a "voice of the voiceless" outside of his wrestling character?

Not really.

In "real life," he's just one of those smug pricks you see hanging around at comic cons talking to the event organisers and pretending he's friends with the celebrity guests or yucking it up at straight edge gigs, letting everyone know he's "in" with the band.

He's the voice of wankers everywhere, really.

1 hour ago, Vamp said:

Yes, when I think Punk I think "grown up."

Well, he may be a complete dick, but he's older and less tolerant of younger people who like to do things their own way. He's a good fit for the corporate structure WWE has I think.

While most wouldn't resort to trying to strangle 90210 Junior, I think there are many top wrestlers in their late 30's and early 40's who would find it difficult to work in AEW with how things are run there. 

5 hours ago, Loki said:

As others have said, modern corporate WWE is probably the perfect environment for Brittle Phil.

 He could have a Lesnar style deal where he does a limited number of dates a year.  He can turn up just before his match or segment, and head off straight afterwards.

 The less time he spends around the locker room the better.  Keep him isolated from everyone, in his own private suite.  No input into anything other than his own feud.  

 It all comes down to whether you think he has the value of a Lesnar, Cena, Goldberg.  Personally I don’t.  I doubt HHH does but Endeavour might.

Yup, WWE is the place for him. As I said a while back, it's entirely ironic that the "voice of the voiceless" has finally grown up and seen that the corporate structure that he railed against is actually what is needed for a competent, productive workplace.

He at least knows that the individuals who have corporate titles in WWE have sensible haircuts and only wear Jordans on Dress Down Fridays.

While a lot of the locker room in WWE won't actively hold him in high regard, you have to believe they know the score enough to treat him with some sort of basic courtesy and respect, which is all he can ask for. 

And he'll pull in his audience. There are fans who will always tune in to see him, and he'll likely shift a fair bit of merchandise. It's a win/win for both sides.

Miletich is 55 years old and hasn't fought in 15 years. How in God's name did he get a license of any kind?

12 minutes ago, Matthew said:

Wonder if any talent will be included?

I'd be surprised if that wasn't the case.

5 hours ago, Carbomb said:

He wants his boy to get a winnable title defence in so he can say he's a legit champion.

Anybody else and it's an immediate rematch. You're definitely right there, David.

Nah, I actually think you've got it back to front there. Dana isn't a fan of Strickland. 

My viewpoint on the rematch? It shouldn't happen. Izzy is a guy who got absolutely cleaned out by Pereira in their first fight in the UFC. How many times have you seen Dana say that a rematch isn't needed if the result is definitive? Yet, he threw Izzy in there for the immediate rematch. He gets the win back, granted, but is then allowed to basically shut down that series at 1-1, claiming it as a victory for some bizarre reason.

So, he won the belt back. Then in his next defence, he gets effectively shut down by Strickland. And he should get another rematch? Is that how shit works with Izzy? Do you need to beat him twice to be champion and move on?

If you remember back before this fight, I said it would be hilarious if Strickland won. That's not because the Apex Predator is a funny guy. It's because it massively fucks up Dana and the UFC's chance to then launch themselves into a huge money-spinning fight built upon some really uncomfortable race-themed shit between Du Plessis and Adesanya. I absolutely did not want to see that fight because no matter who won, it would have been uncomfortable for everyone except Dana and his paymasters at the UFC.

We don't need that shit. What we need now is for Strickland to face Du Plessis and outpoint him in a 5 round boring bout, making Du Plessis go away. No offence to the guy, I like him. But we don't need him and Adesanya fighting in what will be a very uncomfortable situation. Bad timing for him, but that's how it is.

5 minutes ago, Rob Lowe said:

That TKO logo looks like an energy drink from 2000. For a big company that is shockingly bad.

I dunno, I think it perfectly encapsulates the partnership between the UFC and WWE. 

Dana White doing Dana White shit...

After the UFC 293 event he was asked about the rematch between Adesanya and Strickland. His answer?

“I think you do the rematch, absolutely. The rematch is interesting.”

Then this week he said...

“I think if you remember that night, people said, ‘What do you think, you think rematch?’ I said, ‘Yeah, the rematch sounds great. I saw the stupid f****** s*** that was written by all these stupid f****** websites. Never once did I say, ‘Yes, we’re going to f****** do this rematch.’ There’s obviously lots of options out there, and we’ll see what happens. But yes, I’m not opposed to an Israel rematch. We’ll see how it goes.”

He's some lad.

WEEK 2 Fixtures

Thursday September 14th

Minnesota Vikings @ Philadelphia Eagles

Sunday September 17th

Green Bay Packers @ Atlanta Falcons

Las Vegas Raiders @ Buffalo Bills

Baltimore Ravens @ Cincinnati Bengals

Seattle Seahawks @ Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts @ Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs @ Jacksonville Jaguars

Chicago Bears @ Tampa Bay Bucanneers

Los Angeles Chargers @ Tennessee Titans

New York Giants @ Arizona Cardinals

San Francisco 49ers @ Los Angeles Rams

New York Jets @ Dallas Cowboys

Washington Commanders @ Denver Broncos

Miami Dolphins @ New England Patriots

Monday September 18th

New Orleans Saints @ Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns @ Pittsburgh Steelers

See if he just lost the moustache and allowed his hair to grow out grey? He'd look somewhat presentable.

It still amazes me when we see these very wealthy old men using the cheapest hair dye known to man. I mean, surely he could spring for a visit to a salon once a month to get it done properly? But no, he's fucking about with a box of Just for Men from SuperDrug.

Well, that was creepy as fuck.

We're now seeing the difference in being able to call the shots when you're a champion that Dana White likes...

“Before me vs. Aljo, before Pedro vs. Chito, I said, ‘Hey, Chito goes out there and wins, I go out there and win, I’m fighting Chito for my first title defense,’ and that’s what happened. That’s what’s going to happen next in my eyes, that’s what I want."

“I’m sure the UFC’s down with that. Like I said, they’re in the fight business. Me vs. Chito is the biggest fight in the bantamweight division to make. There’s not even one that’s really close. Me versus anyone is going to be a big fight because I’m a pretty big name. But me vs. Chito is the biggest fight to make, me vs. Cory [Sandhagen] is out there. Me vs. Merab — Merab is literally just so f****** boring. Just, it’s hard to make that business-wise, but yeah, you could make that fight eventually."

He basically wants everyone before Merab. And he'll likely get his way.

One thing's for sure. He ain't going to be fighting in November. Dana's boys don't need to turn shit around quick. 

Looks like a Wish version of iron Man...

Imagine if he took that belt everywhere with him, constantly dinging it? Only to show up for his first title defence with it all covered in tape like the hardcore title? 

40 minutes ago, Loki said:

Vince is apparently back from medical leave as well, so it feels like things will continue the way they have been for a bit!

 It’s an odd time.  Vince feels half out the door but clearly he has experience they still need.

 Hunter is largely in charge but actually way down the corporate ladder now.  Steph is… out completely?

I imagine they'll run it similarly to the UFC, where they kept Dana White as President. He basically runs the day-to-day stuff based on "big picture" plans that are passed down from the ownership group. They appreciate his knowledge of MMA and the UFC and realise he knows more about the fight-centric element of it all.

I imagine Vince will be in the same position.

4 hours ago, The King of Old School said:

None at all I would wager.

It depends what you mean by changes. As I mention above, there will be adjustments to the business model for sure. Ari Emanuel and Endeavor have a blueprint for how they do things. And all of their companies fall into line.

1 minute ago, Loki said:

The merger looks like it's going through today, as of tomorrow the WWE is no longer owned by a McMahon.

No real changes up until now, but do we think we'll see some from this point onwards?  

If it's anything like how things have gone with the UFC, you'll see athlete pay stagnate despite increases in overall company profitability. The only real difference is that the UFC doesn't have any real competition in the US, while AEW could look to profit from athletes who are unhappy with their lot.

Interesting times. One thing I will say is that generally Endeavor coming in means good things for them and their shareholders. For the fans and athletes? Not so much.