Topic: Wrestling: Probs mostly about AEW TNT debut and Smackdown on Fox

[weekender]

Kenny vs Sammi

:)

:)

:)

Honestly, this is amazing.

[hummingofevil]

Kenny vs Sammi

:)

:)

:)

Honestly, this is amazing.

I is ace isn't it. Loved it.

Speaking of which. Just realised the Stardom No People Gate is free on YouTube. Go for your lives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uXoAZ2lEMA

[hummingofevil]

So it looks like Joe/Roman Reigns has pulled out of Mania. Good. I couldn't care less about wrestling if it even theoretically puts one life at risk. Be it Roman, JR, Jerry Lawler... etc. Cancel wrestling.

[Ja'moke]

Meltzer reporting that others have pulled out too, either because they’re sick or worried about getting sick.

They taped everything the past two days. I can’t say I’m not intrigued to see how this will all turn out.

[Timothy]

I thought they were going to tape it next week?

[Spode]

I put WrestleMania 30 on last night to pass some isolation time. Wasn’t expecting it to seem too different given it was only a few years ago but it’s a weird watch. All New Day members in the battle royal, pre New Day. Cody in there as well. No belt defences other than the main event and the shitty Divas multi person thing. The Wyatt Cena match being death. I can’t believe they were revisiting that. As good as Wyatt has been at developing characters I can’t think of a single time he’s been interesting in the ring. That’s followed by the Undertaker match so, all in all, there’s what seems like around 2 consecutive hours filled by those two matches. Atrocious stuff. It’s a credit to the women how much they’ve managed to change their perception in the 5 years or so because there was no thought put into anything for them at this show at all.

Loved it live, shiter on rewatch.

[Deanjam]

The only good matches I can remember with Wyatt are from when he first came up as a cult leader, before the supernatural bollocks kicked in. Wyatts vs Shield produced at least 3 quality matches. And I seem to recall really enjoying his Rumble match against Bryan.

[Ja'moke]

I thought they were going to tape it next week?

Nope, they taped everything this week, including three Raws (this week, next week, and the post-WM one), two Smackdowns (this week, next week), and two days of Mania. And they just got it done under the wire because the city in Florida where the performance centre is went into lockdown Thursday night. So they can't use the PC anymore.

[up_the_hampipe]

Why is Broken Matt Hardy in a serious, main event feud with Chris Jericho in AEW? I thought that gimmick was supposed to be a joke, but now they're trying to make him an actual threat to the former world champion? As a serious thing, it doesn't work, as a joke it stopped working ages ago. Why is he there and why are people excited? Don't understand.

They need to cancel Wrestlemania as well, Roman is one of a few names that have dropped out apparently.

[Ja'moke]

What about that segment made you think anything was serious? It was played for humour. And yes, tons of people still like the Broken stuff, even if it all doesn’t work for me personally. I prefer his pre-recorded bits to his live segments.

Also, Matt Hardy being in a feud with Jericho is far less egregious than Hager being in a feud with the world champ.

[hummingofevil]

Gatoh Move accounts are teasing a special guest wrestler on Saturday’s show... Minoru Suzuki. I think it is a chocolate box show too so should be loads of fun (though lack of social distancing makes the whole thing utterly immoral). Oh well...

[Ja'moke]

Edge, Owens, Usos, Miz, Morrison are the other rumoured names to have pulled out of WM.

[up_the_hampipe]

What about that segment made you think anything was serious? It was played for humour. And yes, tons of people still like the Broken stuff, even if it all doesn’t work for me personally. I prefer his pre-recorded bits to his live segments.

Also, Matt Hardy being in a feud with Jericho is far less egregious than Hager being in a feud with the world champ.

It's not about the segments, it's about Matt 'Tommy Wiseau' Hardy being pushed as a main event character. A lot of wrestling is stupid, of course, but Hardy's thing is a piss take that's lost sight of itself, and now he's going to be in all these big matches. Inner Circle should bring in Kai En Tai to even the odds.

Sometimes I worry about the awareness AEW has, especially after Cody's neck tattoo.

[kitsofan34]

If it's not working Tony Khan has shown a willingness to nuke a story, even when it includes one of the chief executive's of the company. The hope is that Hardy's stuff will follow suit.

Brodie Lee's finisher fucking suuuuucks. It's even more convoluted and staggered than that rope rebound clothesline Nigel McGuiness and Dean Ambrose used to do.

[Spode]

I think putting him in that blood and guts main event is the first big misstep they’ve made. I can accept Jack Swagger because they’re making a genuine attempt at repackaging him but who’s going to sell for Hardy? Plus if they don’t make a point of explaining away that teleportation stuff then why would he even ever get himself into a position to ever get hit?

I know it’s wrestling but even by that standard, it’s well off.

[up_the_hampipe]

Yeah, Hager is a work-in-progress and someone who could be a legitimate threat if they get it right. Doesn't seem like a fair comparison to them presenting Broken Matt in all his goofiness and essentially saying "this is the guy that will take down the most dominant heel faction we've created".

Imagine Sting calling Hollywood Hogan a "hole of the ass".

[Ja'moke]

It's not about the segments, it's about Matt 'Tommy Wiseau' Hardy being pushed as a main event character. A lot of wrestling is stupid, of course, but Hardy's thing is a piss take that's lost sight of itself, and now he's going to be in all these big matches. Inner Circle should bring in Kai En Tai to even the odds.

Given the hype he had though he was always going to be in a central position at first. So far he's booked for one big match, which is a multi-man match. He's had one comedy segment with Jericho, who is a character who very much leans into the comedy stuff, especially during his AEW run so far.

If Hardy becomes world champ and starts main eventing PPVs in singles matches, then yeah, I'm not on board with that. But his second week in the company, doing this Elite v Inner Circle stuff, I get it. And as I said, tons of people still love the Broken stuff.

[up_the_hampipe]

I don't think they have plans for Hardy to go into the comedy role with the likes of Orange Cassidy or anything like that. It seems like he's been lured in with promises of a pivotal role. It's AEW giving a clear message to WWE like "this is what you should have been doing with this gimmick", when this is one of the rare instances where WWE were probably right, although they're guilty of trying harder than necessary with it as well, at first anyway.

I understand that it's a complicated issue though, as Hardy is really popular, but at the same time it's this ironic meme sort of popularity which probably makes it confusing from a booking perspective. Many people might enjoy Matt Hardy more than Brock Lesnar, for example, but it would be laughable if he was booked to beat Brock. No one unironically thinks that would be a good idea. Audiences like him, but in what way and how much? 

[Ja'moke]

I do agree with your overall point, that Hardy shouldn't be a main event star. But, I dunno, I have faith that AEW won't be booking him as a world champ or even a PPV main eventer. But yeah, I don't see him dropping down to just lower card comedy. I think he'll be involved in top feuds, but I would like to think he won't be booked as an unstoppable force when it comes to his matches.

And even Matt himself seemed self-aware about this in his Talk is Jericho interview. He appeared to be aware of his in-ring limitations, what he can and can't do. He's more focused on the character and creative stuff - fair enough you might not like his creativity or character stuff.

We'll see how it goes. Because we're also in this weird no-crowd limbo situation now too. But I trust AEW so far because they've shown they listen to feedback and have changed or even scrapped things that weren't working (cough Nightmare Collective).

[Moribunderast]

LOL, am reading that Miz is to blame for Roman bailing. Apparently Miz showed up to the tapings sick which caused Roman to rethink his decision AND the Usos are/were pissed at Miz. And this is after Miz proudly posing in a photo while sharing a hot tub with John Morrison and Zach Ryder the other day. Turns out he's as intelligent as I've always suspected!

[Deanjam]

Anyone financially independent who turns up for work sick these days is a prick for sure. Still Roman should've been in isolation anyway. Many people with Corona aren't necessarily gonna be showing any symptoms.

[hummingofevil]

I've just had a watch along to last years' triplemania with pal. So good. The Elite vs Lucha match really holds up. It's on YouTube if anyone wants a link. About to watch this.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x62eywh

The infamous Dante Fox vs Killshot Lucha Underground Deathmatch.

edit: it's brilliant and fucking horrible. I've never been a blood fan but tonight Matthew it great. Horrible.

[Mobius]

Can’t wait to see Goldberg jackhammer Braun

[peanutbutter]

No posts since Friday on Wrestlemania week, go home Raw last night (I think?? I haven't actually checked that and I see no one talking about it anywhere).

Is there anything we can do to even make this feel exciting for ourselves if we try?  Just feels like the flattest thing ever right now, I'll probably tune in if I can find a stream just to see how fucking awful the Undertaker is but that's about it. AEW is a bit limp now too but I at least think their crew have the potential to pull something fun out of the sitatuation.

[Ja'moke]

I've never been one of these "bring back biker Taker" people, but his promo on Raw last night, which was very much in biker Taker mode, was far more compelling than any promo he's cut in the past five or so years.

As for AEW, they've confirmed a secondary title, the TNT Championship, which will be determined in an 8-man tournament over the next few weeks. I said a couple weeks back that a tournament would be a good way to get through these weird times, so very happy to see that's the direction they're going, and introducing a new title too.

[up_the_hampipe]

Biker Taker was always a bit embarrassing, but Gong Taker was totally boring especially with promos. It's nice to see a bit more character. Seems like his Broken Skull Sessions episode was a way for him to open himself up more to the audience.

[peanutbutter]

Taker in general has always been a boring fucking cunt, getting by outta being a lot better than all the unbelievable shite giants Vince tried to push over the years. The sheer level of push the WWE gave him for 15+ plus year coupled with the fluke of the streak and a lot of very good wrestlers being able to work with the gimmick has dragged his rep way above it has any right to be. Always seems to me like he was a HUGE factor in a lot of the bullshit locker room rules perpetuating and all too, always sounds a bit pathetic in a way that's like "oh right, he really is as lame as the biker gimmick".


I've been enjoying his total inability to retire and increasingly underwhelming returns. It's a shame we miss the chance for an audience to completely turn on him in a match against AJ.

[Huxleys Babkins]

Anyone financially independent who turns up for work sick these days is a prick for sure. Still Roman should've been in isolation anyway. Many people with Corona aren't necessarily gonna be showing any symptoms.

I'm sure WWE are putting a ton of pressure on all their talent to keep coming to work.

[up_the_hampipe]

Somewhat disappointed by the angles that Dark Side of the Ring is choosing to take this season. I get that it's probably the most entertaining, but it's not factual. The Benoit episodes leaned heavily on the excuses his friends have made for him over the years, instead of properly examining him as a person. This week's episode on New Jack seems to be following the story as it's laid out by the man himself, who is a notorious bullshitter. They also seem to edit the Vic Grimes fall to make it look like Grimes did not cooperate at all. No doubt Jack is an unhinged individual, but he's also one of the biggest workers in the business.

[hummingofevil]

AEW is a good as it can be. I'm really enjoying it as a show.