unfitfinlay

59 minutes ago, The King Of Swing said:

The Cunts probably saw what happened to the American Cunts after Trump Cunt was booted and are probably now terrified of getting rid of that Cunt Johnson for fear of the cunts that support him turning on them. 

Cunts. 

I don't know. For all the comparisons between them, Trump is far more savvy than Johnson is and his supporters are far far more passionate. He's largely managed to wash his hands, and deflect, from the really "bad" stuff (lockdowns, for example) while Johnson has nowhere to deflect things onto. His main strategy now just seems to be pretending that the MASSIVE FUCKING PROBLEMS the UK is facing aren't actually problems at all.

That's only going to last for so long before they become impossible to ignore. We're facing the worst winter in living memory with 50k COVID cases a day and the very real prospect of food shortages. I can definitely see the Tories wanting to get ahead of it to try and minimise the amount of shit that gets on them.

The big question, of course, is who replaces him? My brother has a theory that it'll come down to Sunak and some utter nutjob from the backbenches.....and the nutjob will win because the Tory Party is full of racists. It seems totally plausible to me.

Wasn't there a really blatant exemption in the rules for any family that had a child under one, which conveniently included the Johnsons?

I'm actually more surprised it's only coming out now. Not to go all conspiracy theorist but I wonder if some important folk have decided that it's time for him to go, much like they did with Hancock.

Cummings has flat out said that there was a plan to get rid of Johnson in January, after using him to get Brexit through. That's "done" now and, if they get rid of him, they can try and put the blame for that, and the damning COVID report, entirely on him.

Moxley's slow burn heel turn is awesome. Just the subtly of having him be more aggressive against people the audience actually likes. I'm looking forward to his inevitable feud with Kingston, with the roles reversed from last time. It almost makes me want to see the two of them in the final, though Danielson vs Moxley is probably the right move .

Miro continues to be amazing. I was wondering how he'd do the "God's Favourite Champion" gimmick after losing the title but I wasn't expecting him to flat out turn on God. It's a measure of how good he is that he can make something that sounds so stupid work so well. Loved that he's incorporated the weak neck stuff into it as well. It's hard to believe WWE missed the boat on this guy. Him vs Hangman for the title is going to be incredible.

I enjoyed the FTR and Lucha Brothers stuff. I had a feeling we'd get a swerve and it'd people we know under masks. I really liked Punk calling it out as well. It was really unexpected and obviously threw the rest of the commentators off.

John Silver pointing at Adam Cole and calling him "Budge!" had me pissing myself. As did the spot where him and Reynolds kissed Cole. Love when they incorporate BTE stuff into the main shows like that.

I can't say I cared much for the Cody stuff, which is a shame because I am enjoying the story overall, but it's a good example of how good AEW is. The rest of the show is so good that even when something doesn't hit, it's really not a big deal.

2 minutes ago, Louch said:

@unfitfinlayif happily he fucks off to Japan now as He’s not for me as a talent. But makes no difference to how a business is likely to work that’s main revenue is how many people watch it’s product. Handicapping that to be pals with new Japan ain’t adding anything to their bottom line 

I feel like I'm repeating myself here but losing him for a couple of months isn't handicapping the product at all. The roster is loaded and pretty much anyone can take time off for whatever reason, whether that's to spend time with their newborn son, tour with their band or fulfil a career long dream. Again, Hangman just took two months off and the promotion didn't miss a beat.

Whether you think it's smart business or not, it's clearly how Khan sees it. Going by your logic how does AEW dedicating their TV time to promoting NJPW, Impact and NWA shows, titles and wrestlers help their bottom line?

1 hour ago, Louch said:

Hangman wasn’t away on another wrestling show for two months. They aren’t comparable at all. Khan has been happy to do favours on guys days off, but why would he send new Japan a headliner while they send him opening match multi man wrestlers? Suzuki hasn’t been seen as good enough for the G1 for a Few years now.

His business is to get the most people watching dynamite and rampage as he can. Weakening his show for that long to do a favour ain’t happening .

But, again, he clearly doesn't see NJPW as competition, otherwise he wouldn't have made an effort to feature their wrestlers and promote their shows on his TV. He's flat out said that he sees the benefits in everybody working together. Jericho was even on the WWE Network not that long ago.

I went nuts for Suzuki coming out in AEW, which I would never have done if I hadn't started watching NJPW because of Moxley. Similarly I wouldn't have know who Jay White, El Phantasmo or FinJuice were when they turned up in Impact. In fact I wouldn't even be watching Impact if AEW hadn't spotlighted it. That's two promotions full of wrestlers that I now recognise because companies are working together. Surely that's good for AEW and wrestling as a whole?

Even you disagree about that then surely it's better than the alternative? Which is Danielson fucking off when his contract expires and doing the G1 then. He's said he really wants to do it and he's not the kind of guy to let anything get in the way of his ambitions. Isn't it better to just.....let him? Get the good will from NJPW, and the fans and from Danielson himself, rather than losing him all-together in a few years?

As I said, the AEW roster is fucking loaded. Danielson's great but he's not 1980s Hulk Hogan or 1998 Steve Austin and carrying the promotion on his own. They will easily be able to manage without him and probably even incorporate it into their storylines. It won't hurt them in the slightest.

27 minutes ago, Louch said:

I think all the G1 chat is to keep fans happy but unlikely. To be there in time he’s missing dynamite and rampage tapings for weeks, and why would aew let a top talent miss 2 months of tv to boost a competitor? Can see him doing the Dome type shows, Mox G1 worked with aew not on tv yet. 

That's the thing with the Forbidden Door stuff though. None of the companies see each other as competitors any more. They all seem quite happy to work together, share talent and make everybody involved seem more special. AEW has actively promoted NJPW and NWA shows recently, which would've been unthinkable in the past.

It makes sense too. This isn't the Monday Night Wars, where you could only watch one show, They are easily accessible. The more eyes they put on the companies they are working with, the bigger the pool of recognisable talent they have to draw from. I wouldn't have known who Suzuki was if Moxley hadn't worked for NJPW, for example.

As great as Danielson is, the AEW roster is so deep that I think they could easily manage without him. I also think Tony Khan is the kind of boss who would let him do it, just because it's his dream. They gave Hangman two months off on paternity leave, at a time when he was over as fuck. I could totally see him agreeing to this, if he hasn't already.

Aye. I think Jericho deserves a lot of credit for his contributions to AEW. As the biggest, and highest paid star, he really set the tone from the beginning. If he'd had an attitude and tried to protect his spot, as many many others would've done, it'd be a very different company today. Jericho forming a stable with the bloke with the Panda hat, jobbing to Orange Cassidy and having a feud with Suge D, makes it hard for anyone else to try and politic.

Come to think of it, I'm sure Tony Khan gave a lot of credit to Jericho and Schiavone for saving the company when the pandemic hit. They spent days recording commentary for those Florida shows, without which they wouldn't have been able to meet their deal with TNT. I can't think of many top guys who would've even turned up, much less to do commentary or went "We've only got 30% of or roster available? Fine. I'll just feud with one of the local guys from the crowd".

1 hour ago, Michael_3165 said:

What a brilliant artist. His old school belts were genius designs and he certainly took pride in the work he put out. 

Didn't know much about him as a worker - I assume he wrestled before his belt making days?

 

It's how he got into it, apparently. He was one of the AWA Midwest Tag Team Champions and made belts for him and his partner. They were so much better than the standard at the time that the World Tag Champions refused to even wear their belts to their ring for a Champions vs Champions match. I read an article about him just a few days ago, I'll try and find it again.

Definitely someone who's contributions have been over-looked. His designs, especially in the WWF, were iconic and still feel like the REAL title belts to me even now.

7 hours ago, Merzbow said:

If there's a split I'd imagine it being Omega being booted out, Cole & The Bucks have their own seperate name and already feel like a closer knit bunch.

I agree. There's storyline motivation too. Kenny kicked Cole out of Bullet Club and, as I will keep insisting until they actually say otherwise, Kenny was the one who convinced Hangman to cost the Bucks their title shot last year. Page even teased saying it not that long ago, during that segment where he wanted to "clear something up", the week after The Bucks did the same thing to him.

Fuck knows what you do with Omega though. The Superkliq are far better as heels but, a storyline like that isn't exactly going to turn Kenny babyface. Maybe just have them injure him and give him some time off?

50 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

I think what makes this government abhorrent is a lot down to incompetence. Thatchers government were clear in their callousness and did what they said they were going to do whereas this shower of shite seem to make it up from day to day. 

It's so blatant too. Cameron was fucking useless as well but at least he had the illusion of competence. This lot struggle to get through even a single interview without sounding clueless, elitist or simply lying cunts.

I mean, what do you say about a Government that's currently trying to sink the trade agreement that their entire election campaign was based on? 

2 minutes ago, neil said:

While the media is problematic I do put a lot of blame for the current situation, both UK and US, for the tribal/sports team behaviour of voters. It really does feel that at one point you could lose your voters by acting in shitty ways, whereas now people just double down on their support and come up with elaborate excuses for their party/person.

This is very true.

People are determined to be on the winning side even if that "winning" means fucking massive power bills, food shortages and no petrol.

Good idea for a thread.

A lot of the times, to me, he comes off like a typical bored millionaire who is looking for......something to give his life some meaning. That ranges from his music career, sacking off WWE to have a go in Japan/AEW all the way to his "asking questions" about COVID and his backing of Trump. Really, he's the perfect target for shit like QANON and MAGA. He's a rich public figure who can do pretty much anything he wants with zero consequences. I think he WANTS to believe too, because it feeds his ego. It lets him say "I'm a wrestler but I'm also really smart. I know things that YOU don't know."

It also gives him an excuse for his piss-poor acting career, which, coincidentally enough, appears to be what QANON was founded for.

Does it make him a bad person? Fuck knows. I think he THINKS he's doing the right thing, but I'll admit that I could be biased because I enjoy his in-ring work. I will say that he has very little self-awareness. He tells some "hilarious" stories in his books that make him come across like a right dickhead. There's nothing Dark Side of The Ring bad, but it's enough to make you think "I'd hate you if I met you".

On screen, aye, I'd safely put him in the Second Tier, under the tippy top guys. He always felt like one of the top guys but never quite The Guy for me.

15 hours ago, Keith Houchen said:

It’s possibly more that, much like Johnson, they see where the crowd are heading and run to the front saying “Follow me”. 

Absolutely. That’s why, at times, the Scottish Edition will have a radically different opinion than the rest of the U.K. I think it was 2015 they backed the SNP - because they were “holding the Tories to account” - while the English edition backed the Tories to “Stop the SNP!!”

I’d imagine the Welsh and Northern Ireland editions are the same. They just work out which way the wind is blowing and then act like they are responsible for it.

It's also worth mentioning that Cameron's campaign to remain was just fucking shit. Firstly he was the wrong person to lead it, given he'd been using the EU as a scapegoat for his failures and he went down the "Project Fear" route as if telling British folk that they are entirely dependent on foreigners was going to work out well. He came off like such a patronising wanker that I seriously considered voting Leave just to spite him. I didn't, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people did.

Realistically, there is a lot of blame to go around though. Even Blair and Brown were doing the "Ooh. It's all the immigrants fault but we can't do anything about them because of the EU" shite.

11 hours ago, Carbomb said:

But no - the gammon had to have their cake and eat it; like children, they wanted what they wanted and they wanted it now, making out that anyone who advocated a measured and careful exit was basically a Remainer. 

Yep. Which is how we ended up in the bizarre situation in 2019 where JEREMY CORBYN, a career long Eurosceptic, was considered a Remainer, because he disagreed with Boris Johnson, who only decided to lead the Leave campaign on a whim.

It's become almost a religious thing. Everybody thinks that THEIR idea of Brexit is the proper one, and the one everybody else really voted for. Any other interpretation isn't "really" Brexit and is a betrayal of the vote. Unfortunately, the cunts with the power, and the loudest voices in the media, are the ones with control.

4 hours ago, scratchdj said:

Far from the sunlit uplands Brexit promised, we’re already seeing what a country that can no longer rely on such a strong foreign workforce looks like.And it’s not just haulage, it’s bus drivers too.

And it’s not just transport, either. We’re having a new house built and it’s been delayed quite a lot due to shortages of labour as much as it has materials. Almost all of the workforce of the contractor that the developer uses to do the dry-lining have “gone back home”, leaving the guy who owns the company to close his business.

It seems like it's any industry that involves long hours, low pay and stress. I know Hospitality and Care are both close to breaking point because it's nearly impossible to recruit and/or retain staff. There's been a crisis for years now, in fairness, but the lack of foreign workers has made it much much worse.  It's so bad in care that my mate, who was on the dole for five years, not only got a job in a care home but was offered a promotion three weeks in. He is great at it, like, but still imagine trusting your loved one to a Home where a SENIOR only has a few weeks experience?

For the first time in my life it's very much an employee's market. Employers are just desperate. Even Amazon are offering £1,000 bonuses to come and work for them. 

I mainly see the media getting blamed for causing panic, but I've also seen people on benefits get the blame for "not wanting to work". As if you can just take folk off the dole and stick them behind the wheel of a fucking big lorry. I mean, you could, but it's probably not going to end well.

Fuck knows how we solve it though. I don't think it's a coincidence that the industries that are in crisis are the ones where long hours, low pay and a lot of stress are the norm. I can't see EU workers rushing to come and bail us out either, not with such a shitty, grudged offer.

56 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said:

@Jonny Vegas coming to the conclusion that somebody is an 'absolute pain in the arse and have a hugely over inflated opinion of herself' because of 'her face when she came out' is utter bollocks.

Her character has been quite bad for the most part in AEW and they've never really settled on how best to use her. All those would be valid points. But nah, lets just make up some bollocks about her being difficult to work with and how stuck-up she is based on zero evidence.

Spot on here.

She's an odd one. I've never actually thought "Fucking hell. She's awful" as much as "Why is she doing that?" Her performances in the Nightmare Collective, for example, were.....fine. It was just a shite idea. Same with the frenemies storyline with Allie or the utterly bizarre segment with Jade where she totally changed her accent for no apparent reason. If anything, I'd argue that the fact her storylines keep getting dropped is evidence that she doesn't have a particularly inflated opinion of herself. It's not like she doesn't have any influence is it?

As an aside, isn't Brandi the one usually credited for a lot of the socially conscious stuff AEW does? Like setting up rooms where autistic people can watch the shows without being overwhelmed, giving out noise cancelling headphones, etc? I still think that's one of the best things AEW has done. Makes me think she might actually be a pretty nice person, especially for the wrestling business.

Aren't the Saudi shows basically sold shows? As in, the Saudi Government pays WWE a stupid amount to put them on and, in exchange, they get to say "We've got WWE. Look how progressive and welcoming we are!" as well as booking their own dream matches.

Definitely weird to compare it to another wrestling show. The money they make has fuck all to do with drawing power or whatever over there. It's just a PR exercise by the Saudis.

On 9/5/2021 at 7:44 AM, westlondonmist said:

They barely have enough to go 2 nights, even then the title has to be main event both nights. 3 nights, Jesus, you don't even have the IC anymore to take up 1 night. 

Ospreay defending his World Title on one show, Shingo on another and then a Unification match on night three?

Doubt I'm going to keep my subscription going that long, to be honest. All the interesting NJPW stuff seems to be happening in other companies. Nothing they are doing themselves is interesting to me at all.

Even the story of Ospreay declaring that he's still Champion, which is an angle that I've always enjoyed, is leaving me cold. Possibly because I'm not too fussed about either Ospreay or Shingo.

I've watched one show in a month, and even that was just to see the new Young Lions. NJPW desperately needs a major angle to shake things up.

6 hours ago, wordsfromlee said:

There’s that and there’s also the episode where a demon lives in the internet and is controlling students using an instant chat service to kill people. 

Yeah. That one is hilarious to watch back. Ham-fisted "Ooh the evils of technology" message.

The "Freak of the Week" episodes in the early seasons were always pretty crap though. They were generally only watchable because of the acting and some clever, self aware dialogue. It wasn't until the second half of Season 2 that the stories started getting good.

6 hours ago, Keith Houchen said:

His Q&A is about his struggles, addictions and mental health issues. The nights are designed for people who are struggling to make friends and increase their support network. The singalong is more a fun activity for people to bond over. He does bowling nights for fans as well for the same purpose. He seems like a decent if troubled guy. 

I genuinely feel bad for him. The character has aged horribly but I can't fault his acting at all. He was very good. It's a real shame he hasn't worked more since the show got cancelled.

It must've been tough to watch the rest of the cast go on to have successful careers, and lives, while he simply hasn't. I'd imagine he must be reminded of that constantly as well, at conventions etc.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

I remember Xander being a loveable nerd. He was the funny underdog and I wanted to see him get the beautiful girl that he so desperately wanted.

Watching it back nowadays, he's actually a complete turd. He sexually harasses Buffy constantly, tries to sabotage her other relationships - to the point of trying to get Angel killed - and gets in a major strop when he asks her out and she says no. Like he full on acts like she's betraying their friendship by not being attracted to him. The whiny, entitled, incel cunt.

He was a prick to Willow as well. She blatantly fancies him but he ignores her (and whines to her about Buffy) UNTIL she gets a boyfriend. THEN he's suddenly into her and tries to destroy her relationship too. Even in the last seasons, when he's an adult, he gets upset when he finds out that the 14 year old Dawn doesn't have a crush on him anymore.

It's still a watchable show but that stuff is really jarring, especially given the recent allegations about Joss Whedon.

Jericho commentating as heel, despite supposedly being a babyface, is one of the strangest creative decisions in recent memory. There was no subtlety to it either. He was flat out cheering on the heels, even at their most heelish. Like shouting "Yeah! Get him!" while Miro kicked fuck out of Fuego and just shitting on Fuego getting a contract.

It's even weirder, because Jericho is capable of so much better. During the initial lockdown shows, he did a great job of putting people over without hurting his own on screen persona. Here, it felt like he was desperately trying to protect a character he doesn't even play anymore! 

I'm just glad MJF wasn't on the show. Jericho would've been cheering him on as well. Like that episode of Beavis and Butthead where they're watching themselves get beaten up by the Police on Cops.

I’m guessing she’s counted the entire day out as “going to the cinema” and the Gran has misunderstood. Throw in bus fares/petrol, and a meal before and after AND the snacks and it makes a bit more sense.

Same way I easily used to spend a hundred quid “going to the football” even though the majority of it was spent in the pub.

7 hours ago, BomberPat said:

watching it, absolutely none of that occurred to me. When they teased the count-out, I did think they might go with a DQ finish so that Miro kept the title and Fuego won the contract, but mostly I figured when Fuego lost that he'd just keep on trying to earn a spot anyway. When they came out to give him the contract I thought, "oh, that's nice" and that they were saying, "you showed us something in this match that's worth signing you even if you didn't win", and didn't see anything that contradicted the story of the match in that. 

Like Lance Storm said, it wasn't "if he loses he doesn't get a contract", it wasn't like they were saying this was his only shot at getting signed. That might sound like pedantry, but I think in terms of how the story played out it's an accurate summation of what was going on. It was a simple story told well, and that Rocky sense of the babyface losing the big match, but still having gained something through the effort of fighting it.

Absolutely this. They made Fuego go against fucking Miro, and instead of cowering away, he went right at him even BEFORE the opening bell. There were key points in the match where it looked like Fuego could possibly have won it. In kayfabe terms, why wouldn't AEW want to sign him after a performance like that?

I don't think it's comparable to other times when companies reneged on stipulations because he earned it. They were fucking with him with that stipulation and he proved them wrong.

If it reminds me of anything, it'd be TUF 1 when Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar's match in the final earned them both UFC contracts, even though competing for one was the entire point of the show. In fact, most of the fighters got signed, and it didn't devalue the show in the slightest. Because they showed enough to justify it, even if they didn't win.

Am I the only one who thinks the "Best In The World" tease is going to turn out to be for Danielson? It was his gimmick first after all.

I'm sure Punk will make an appearance but he hasn't wrestled since 2014.  Expecting him to have a match that'll live up to this level of hype is a bit much surely? Imagine if he blows up after a few minutes?

2 hours ago, Lorne Malvo said:

It's not a traditional wrestling faction or stable. They're just a group of loosely affiliated people whocome from the same training school. They're more like an MMA fight camp than anything else. It's not as if they're gonna be handing out 12 on 1 beatdowns or spraypainting 'NIGHTMARE 4 LYF' on people.

I'm absolutely fine with it. It doesn't take up much, if any TV time, but gives them a bit of an identity and a reason to be on the shows. Besides, some of them aren't even signed, so it'll likely help them get Indy bookings too.

It's one of them things I really like about AEW. They are really good at getting people in the right positions, even if they aren't necessarily going to push them right away.

21 minutes ago, gmoney said:

Rest assured, you're not. He's definitely deserved some of the criticism he gets, but he's a very good promo, and I think very likable. He gets an utterly deranged level of fault finding these days, someone in this thread accused him of hogging the limelight after his match with Black which is just such blinkered thinking it's unreal.   

To be honest, I think Cody's biggest contribution to AEW is that he IS so likeable. He comes off brilliantly on social media, etc, never gets into arguments with Cornette and co. A lot of the socially responsible stuff AEW does has been credited to him and Brandi as well. Of all the EVPs, he's by far the best choice to represent the company.

The feud with QT really dragged him down though. I'm hoping the feud with Black heats him back up again. I also want to see him get involved with the rest of the roster. Surely, as the one babyface EVP, he should be doing something with the Elite?