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

[Ja'moke]

Yeah Tony on commentary that said due to covid situation the belt wasn't able t be finished in time and still needs work doing.

[Gurke and Hare]

I've just finished watching this, fantastic stuff. I absolutely love all the little bits of detail they thrown in, like the librarians at the back of the heel section just reading all the way through. Stampede was amazing.

Apparently the plan was for Fyter Fest to be the first London show. Damn.

[Gurke and Hare]

https://twitter.com/oldathers/status/1264553078700859394


(Glinner enters; is powerbombed by Nyla Rose.)

[Deanjam]

Sammy Guevara is the best thing in American wrestling right now. I'm baffled why MJF gets so much more praise than him.

[Ja'moke]

I would say over the past month or so Sammy has received more praise than MJF. People love Sammy now, and rightfully so, the bumps that dude takes are insane.

And yeah, sucks that Fyter Fest was going to be in UK with a Mox v Cage match. That would have been fantastic. Oh well, here's hoping all is well enough for them to come here next year.

[up_the_hampipe]

Stadium Stampede was my favourite thing in wrestling this year. More than the Boneyard match. Loved it all.

[kitsofan34]

That main event from DDT USA was so fun last night! I loved it!

[Ja'moke]

Still laughing about Jericho knocking out the mascot and Hangman painting over Jericho with the line marker.

[up_the_hampipe]

Did anyone get Santana out of the freezer? He might be dead.

[MrMrs]

Fuck them for hiring tyson

[BeardFaceMan]

Jericho is going to be doing a podcast about the creative process behind that Stampede match, that should be interesting. They're killing it with these crowdless shows, not showing any sign of running out of steam or ideas to keep things fresh without a crowd. I think it should be obvious to people now that AEW are doing things right and are here to stay.

[Timothy]

Stampede match was awesome. Greatest match in 2020. Really creative. Looking forward to that podcast.

Rest of the ppv was alright. MJF vs Jungle Boy and Shida vs Rose were standouts but the rest was just alright imo. Didnt really like Cody winning after the Archer buildup or the way Moxley won and I dont get what theyre doing with Spears.

And that skateboard spot was insane in a bad way.

All in all fun ppv.

[BeardFaceMan]

Cody doesn't need a title just yet, he's red hot, it was definitely a mistake to put the title on him.

[MrMrs]

Isn't Jericho just the best creative mind in the game right now? Possibly ever?

[Huxleys Babkins]

Isn't Jericho just the best creative mind in the game right now? Possibly ever?

Everyone was so convinced that they were wasting Jericho by having him feud with Matt Hardy, but this entire angle has just been top-to-bottom brilliant. It's so hard to get the tone right when dealing with a ridiculous character like Hardy's, but they've managed to get it absolutely pitch perfect.

[BeardFaceMan]

Yeah I'm not sure there are many people out there other than Jericho that could cut a convincing promo on a drone, he's the fucking best. And still nowhere near being done, seemingly. The Hardy feud has been great but only because of Jericho, the angle has been let down slightly by the fact that Matt Hardy is cutting promos on my tv.

[Timothy]

Jericho made it work. I don't enjoy Matt Hardy's Deletion character. His promo's and manners make me cringe.

Jericho is one of the few wrestlers that manage to shake his character up and make it work every single time.

His books are also worth a read.

[Ja'moke]

You know what has surprised me most... Matt Hardy's wrestling! I had pretty much written him off when it came to in-ring because his body is a broken heap of brittle bones. But his match agains Sammy last week was really good! Obviously a big part of that is down to Sammy's selling, but Matt didn't look washed up like towards end of his WWE run. And he was good in the street fight and Stadium Stampede too.

[Deanjam]

I don't watch Raw as it's shit, but I like to keep up with what's happening (congratulations Apollo Crews), and I see that WWE have moved from calling Edge/Orton possibly the greatest wrestling match ever, to actually advertising it as THE GREATEST WRESTLING MATCH EVER.



The most embarrassing promotional line ever? A rib on Edge & Orton for the response to their tedious fuckery at Mania? A rib on the fans with the match ending in 5 seconds after an RKO?

[BeardFaceMan]

Apparently there's a push in WWE now to use the word 'wrestling' more, I don't think they're going so far as to call their wrestlers 'wrestlers' though, that would be silly, obviously. With things like this and the changes WWE made to their crowdless shows (filming matches in a movie style, different hard camera angle, wrestlers as a crowd), there can be no doubt that AEW are on WWE's radar and WWE are making changes because of that. Shit, they're stealing ideas from them. You never know, at this rate they may end up with a watchable product again.

The most embarrassing promotional line ever? A rib on Edge & Orton for the response to their tedious fuckery at Mania? A rib on the fans with the match ending in 5 seconds after an RKO?

I'll have a tenner on all 3.

[Timothy]

What ideas did WWE steal from AEW?

[Ja'moke]

What ideas did WWE steal from AEW?

I think they mean in terms of production things. For those first few empty arena shows, WWE had the hardcam facing the empty seats, making the whole thing feel really weird. AEW, meanwhile, from the off, had the hardcam facing the stage, and it looked far better. A couple of weeks later, WWE moved the hardcam to face the stage.

Now, AEW has had some of the talent sitting at ringside to create a bit of atmosphere. WWE have now finally started doing this too.

I don't blame them for taking those ideas, though. They should have done it sooner.

Also, the TUE video chat thing was a clear rip off of the Bubbly Bunch, and you can't tell me otherwise.

[BeardFaceMan]

What ideas did WWE steal from AEW?

For those first few empty arena shows, WWE had the hardcam facing the empty seats, making the whole thing feel really weird. AEW, meanwhile, from the off, had the hardcam facing the stage, and it looked far better. A couple of weeks later, WWE moved the hardcam to face the stage.

Now, AEW has had some of the talent sitting at ringside to create a bit of atmosphere. WWE have now finally started doing this too.

This, basically.

I don't blame them for taking those ideas, though. They should have done it sooner.

Not saying WWE shouldn't be stealing ideas, it just shows how creatively bankrupt they are that a start-up company is beating them to the punch and that's where WWE are looking for inspiration, not internally. Them starting to re-use the term 'wrestling' is down to AEW too.

[Ja'moke]

What a start to Dynamite!!

[hummingofevil]

Its such a good show... then Britt Baker. Ha ha ha. My god she is amazing.

[hummingofevil]

What a start to Dynamite!!

I've always been a Matt Hardy agnostic but he is amazing in AEW already.

[Ja'moke]

Not a fan of the ending at all. Don't give a shit about Tyson.

Great show other than that though.

[Ja'moke]

Saying that though, it's already getting a ton of exposure on Twitter and the like. I don't follow UFC, so didn't recognise who he turned up with, but it seems to have got people all excited.

[hummingofevil]

Cejodo being there would have got a decent media response anyway (but obviously on nowhere near the same scale). The Tyson thing is a gamble that i suspect will pay off.

I wish they had stayed clear for multiple reasons as its a. naff and b. whatever one thinks about the man Tyson being given space to rebuild his life as a convicted rapist i dont really want to spend my money on him.

im summary, its just probably too much to ask of any wrestling company to be morally sound. Cant say im not disappointed mind... and that is coming from someone who is instinctively someone who remembers Tyson as a star. :(

[Timothy]

I hated it when WWE did it with Fury and Velasquez and I hate it now. I dont want to see old Tyson struggling to rip his shirt open and fight Jericho in AEW. No need for UFC fighters either. If I want to watch boxing or UFC I watch that. Dont need them stealing space and time from the actual wrestlers.

Other then that, great show.