Wrestling In The Time Of COVID-19: the new thread

[Magnum Valentino]

Yeah, my memory of that is the same - Foley doesn't remember it, but Rock and others insist he did indeed wait around for him.

[Timothy]

Could be that he heard this after writing the book? In the book he does say that he was quite disappointed. I found this on Bleacher Report article from 2009 but couldnt find much more.

Foley himself said that what made him even bitter was that he never saw the Rock after the match and that he was the one who went to look for The Rock after the match. He also added that The Rock never looked concerned at all.   

[confettiinmyhair]

After his wrestling career it's just really apparent how much of a hard worker The Rock is. He seems diligent and focused, almost obsessionally so. I imagine that mindset helped him make sensible choices in his wrestling career, I dare say his working safe was more to do with him wanting to last a long time in the business to make money, and that Hollywood was an accidental opportunity that he made work through share force of will.

[stonkers]

Rock also wasn't really around that long, he had what about 5 years as a full time guy. Foley had been knocking fuck out himself in Japan for years before he got to WWF.

[BeardFaceMan]

As amazing a promo as Mick was, and he is a very charismatic performer, he would never have got over without doing all that ridiculous shit and beating himself up, and he would never have stayed over without carrying on doing it. If you take away all the death-defying stuff and the endless punishment, he just wasn't very good in the ring, sadly. Rock was, and he got over through hard work and talent. Remember, it was "die Rocky die" chants when he first started, he didn't have it easy and he got over because he knew how to work. The acting stuff came later as a result of his WWE success, he was already a safe worker before the actings gigs because he didn't need to do the kind of stuff Foley did to get over, he could do it with a promo, an eyebrow and a fucking elbow.

[Ja'moke]

Shaq has challenged Cody to a match, presumably for Revolution: https://twitter.com/AEWonTNT/status/1354588302272155648

Let's just get this over and done with.

[Ja'moke]

Apparently the whole TNT feed has gone out in the US. Luckily Fite is still working.

[Gurke and Hare]

Yeah, AEW reddit is going berserk.

Loved that Mox promo.

[Ja'moke]

Dax and Jungle Boy have great chemistry.

[Moribunderast]

Great show so far. Kingston and Archer was a great mean guy match. Dax and Jungle Boy was absolutely tremendous and the post-match angle was good. Mox cut a cool promo, as did Darby and Sting. Taz and his goons beating the shit out of vendors. Thunder Rosa chasing off Britt. All good stuff.

[Ja'moke]

Dax v JB match of the night. But the main event was great fun too.

Also nice to see that Riho is coming back. Still, can we get the current women's champ in a backstage interview or something?

Oh and Matt Hardy has FINALLY found a character that works for him in AEW. Took a while but sleazy manager Matt fits him well.

[Gurke and Hare]

Almost everything about this show was great.

Opening match, fantastic brawl, and that chokeslam to the floor was brutal. Excited for the next part of this

A few weeks ago I shat on Varsity Blondes like JR does on anyone born after 1980. Happy to take that back now, they were great last night. And Jericho was as good as he's been for ages.

I'm not sure I can bear to watch Hangman getting fucked over by Hardy. but it is a perfect angle for the story.

Jungle Boy vs Dax was as good as everyone's saying it was and is presumably the start of him getting a big singles push. Cutting Luchasaurus's horns off is very funny heel work, well done.

I really really hope that Rosa vs Britt gets better treatment than the 8 minutes match half of which is during the break next week. It's been built really well, and it would be a crime to blow it off like that.

I had the chance to write another wrestling piece for TV Insider, this time looking at 10 of the hottest free agents AEW should sign in 2021: https://www.tvinsider.com/gallery/aew-all-elite-wrestling-10-independent-wrestlers-to-sign

In the context of this, interesting that Speedball got a shout out in commentary last night! That was a really fun main event, although it's fairly obvious who's winning the battle royal now.

Oh, and Renee tweeted this after Mox's promo. Lol.

This fucking Cody/Shaq thing though. For a start, Cody's own date of birth doesn't mean anything to him? And a celebrity in a mixed tag match against an inexperienced woman? That sounds like an appalling idea. I've no objection to mixed matches, and I've watched some excellent ones but everyone involved needs to be more experienced than everyone other than Cody is here, don't they?

[Ja'moke]

The date Arn mentioned was June 29, the day before Cody's birthday. That's when Dusty had a match that night then travelled straight home to be there for Cody's birth the next day. It did come off a little confusing though.

Maybe Jade Gargill is gonna do a Ronda and be a prodigy?

[BeardFaceMan]

I know in wrestling you should always expect the unexpected, but I really wasn't expecting to hear the phrase "Billy Big Bollocks" used in AEW, got a proper laugh out of me that did.

[Ja'moke]

I love PAC's wild Geordie promos. I'm definitely up for a PAC World Title run somewhere down the line.

The ending of last night's Dynamite was ace too. I know that AEW relies a little too much on the post-match beatdown/run-in, but this one was great. Fenix flying through the air so fast that I wouldn't be surprised if he's still in motion as we speak. And then Mox hitting the DDT on Kenny and proper spiking him.

Oh, and Jericho's "fuck you" Lionsault was perfect.

[Old Thrashbarg]

Fenix flying through the air so fast that I wouldn't be surprised if he's still in motion as we speak.

He landed sitting on the barrier, which is quite a feat! Had it not been there he would, like you say, still be travelling at speed.

[Gurke and Hare]

https://twitter.com/WWEUK/status/1354799118103805954

Jennie Bond announced as the WWE UK Royal Rumble correspondent.

Not actually a bad promo for what it is, but I'm not convinced it's going to generate a lot of buys.

[Ja'moke]

Amanda Huber is on the latest AEW Unrestricted podcast to talk about Brodie's passing. Someone on Reddit compiled her comments into a time-line: https://old.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/l6r2in/amanda_huber_details_the_timeline_to_brodie_lees/

A heartbreaking read.

[Gurke and Hare]

Jesus, that's horrible. And frankly, let Cody do all the stupid celebrity angles he wants.

[BeardFaceMan]

I hope that dirtsheet cunt who got fired for his appalling 'journalism' and then doubled down on his shittiness in the days after Brodie's death listens to that podcast.

The reason I liked the Billy Big Bollocks thing so much is that it's the kind of thing that Vince would never let happen, he would have said that no one (Americans) will know what it means, so don't say it. It's great that AEW don't overproduce everything and allow the wrestlers to display their personality, you get a lot more unique moments.

[Utter Shit]

https://twitter.com/WWEUK/status/1354799118103805954

Jennie Bond announced as the WWE UK Royal Rumble correspondent.

Not actually a bad promo for what it is, but I'm not convinced it's going to generate a lot of buys.

Needed Nicholas Witchell to belt her with a chair at the end.

[BeardFaceMan]

https://twitter.com/WWEUK/status/1354799118103805954

Jennie Bond announced as the WWE UK Royal Rumble correspondent.

Not actually a bad promo for what it is, but I'm not convinced it's going to generate a lot of buys.

WWE follow up their finger-on-the-pulse booking with some of their more usual finger-on-the-pulse booking.

[up_the_hampipe]

I think the issue was Rock hit far more head shots that was agreed.

It's not like he starting shooting on Foley though. They realised they weren't where they needed to be (at the top of the entrance way) when they'd reached the agreed number of shots, so they just kept going. Still really dumb however.

Also let's not take WrestleVotes at any value. They are largely terrible.

[bgmnts]

Actually just to go back to Beyond the Mat doc, the moment where McMahon states 'we make movies' might be the most smug any cunt has ever looked in history. Made me want to run him through a thresher.

[Ja'moke]

It's not like he starting shooting on Foley though. They realised they weren't where they needed to be (at the top of the entrance way) when they'd reached the agreed number of shots, so they just kept going. Still really dumb however.

Also let's not take WrestleVotes at any value. They are largely terrible.

WrestleVotes have had a really good track record over the past year or so. And only ever post when they've actually heard something. Unlike, say, RingsideNews, which is the bottom of the barrel as far as dirtsheets go.

[up_the_hampipe]

WrestleVotes have had a really good track record over the past year or so. And only ever post when they've actually heard something. Unlike, say, RingsideNews, which is the bottom of the barrel as far as dirtsheets go.

Listen, I may have confused WrestleVotes with RingsideNews. Sometimes I wonder if I have also received several chair shots to the head from The Rock.

[Ja'moke]

AEW 6th in demo (.29) 734,000 viewership.
NXT 24th in demo (.21) 720,000 viewership

[Deanjam]

[Ja'moke]

GCW is hosting a 24-hour wrestling event, streaming for free on YouTube and Fite TV. The event is set-up in blocks and includes various independent wrestlers and promotions. 



When: Kicks-off tonight at 8 PM EST (1 AM GMT)
Where: The "GCW Performance Center," a closed set.
How to Watch: YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCViRdi-RiQBpy-lG_ST2Qiw or Fite.TV - https://www.fite.tv/

You can also donate (all proceeds go directly to the performers:): https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/fight-forever#/

I donated $10 earlier this week. Might donate some more during the shows.

[Deanjam]

Stu Bennett has betrayed our marvellous Queen by taking up Yankee citizenship. What a scoundrel!