Pro Wrestling thread

[AirVillain | 490]

1 hour ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

I imagine FTR will win the AEW titles soon. I had heard that the original plan was for the Hardys to win the titles in the ladder match and then drop them to FTR, but they had to change the plans around when Jeff got in trouble.

Yes.... well.... it seems it would be silly for AEW not to. They could have some pretty epic feuds with pretty much anybody. But the matches they can have with Lucha Bros, Bucks are insane. Throw the titles into the mix and it would be crazy. 

Hmmmm... that would have made sense. Hardy's win the titles, have FTR win from them.

What happened there? I mean, in the wrestling storyline. Jeff/Matt couldn't compete..... but they still had the ladder match. Just the Bucks vs. Jurassic Express? Was there a third team in there? 

Now recent'y Swerve/Lee just won them. That JUST happened.... So yeah.... maybe AEW wanted FTR to win them from someone OTHER than the Bucks so they could save a feud for down the road. 

Just looked for this:

https://www.allelitewrestling.com/aew-rankings

So... they've got the "Men's Rankings".... sssssssooooooo...... those are the top 5 Contenders for ALL of the titles? 

Edited July 22, 2022 by AirVillain
AEW Rankings link...

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

1 hour ago, AirVillain said:

Hmmmm... that would have made sense. Hardy's win the titles, have FTR win from them.

What happened there? I mean, in the wrestling storyline. Jeff/Matt couldn't compete..... but they still had the ladder match. Just the Bucks vs. Jurassic Express? Was there a third team in there? 
 

This is why the Hardys coudn't compete, assuming you hadn't heard.

https://deadline.com/2022/06/jeff-hardy-suspended-aew-dui-arrest-1235045880/

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

It looks like Vince is finally retiring from WWE.

https://nodq.com/news/breaking-news-vince-mcmahon-announces-his-retirement/

[twiztor | 851]

huge news. 

also, i don't watch WWE. i wish AJ Styles had left and joined AEW.

[AirVillain | 490]

22 hours ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

This is why the Hardys coudn't compete, assuming you hadn't heard.

https://deadline.com/2022/06/jeff-hardy-suspended-aew-dui-arrest-1235045880/

Ah yes, of course.... I was just speaking strictly storyline wise.... 

Hopefully Jeff can get some help, fuck. 
 

16 hours ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

It looks like Vince is finally retiring from WWE.

https://nodq.com/news/breaking-news-vince-mcmahon-announces-his-retirement/

Pretty odd timing... amid all these investigations? I figure it's just "retire and get out of here and we won't look any further..." but maybe they will keep looking.

Vince has been involved in some crazy shit. 
 

11 hours ago, twiztor said:

huge news. 

also, i don't watch WWE. i wish AJ Styles had left and joined AEW.

Pretty wild. AJ Styles is one of the guys that keeps me invested. 

 

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

7 hours ago, AirVillain said:

Ah yes, of course.... I was just speaking strictly storyline wise.... 

Hopefully Jeff can get some help, fuck. 
 

Pretty odd timing... amid all these investigations? I figure it's just "retire and get out of here and we won't look any further..." but maybe they will keep looking.

Vince has been involved in some crazy shit. 
 

Pretty wild. AJ Styles is one of the guys that keeps me invested. 

 

It's surreal in a way. I've been watching for 35+ years when Vince was on commentary. Everyone knows the product has been stale for a long time. Vince seemed out of touch to the point of booking angles based on what interested him. It's crazy to see him go, but I think the overall product may benefit in the long run. Ever since WWE went public, they seemed to do "what's best for business" over putting out good content.

[guitarzombie | 924]

18 hours ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

It's surreal in a way. I've been watching for 35+ years when Vince was on commentary. Everyone knows the product has been stale for a long time. Vince seemed out of touch to the point of booking angles based on what interested him. It's crazy to see him go, but I think the overall product may benefit in the long run. Ever since WWE went public, they seemed to do "what's best for business" over putting out good content.

Im inclined to agree.  The same bullheadedness that made the WWF a global band, is also the same bullheadedness thats ruined it.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

2 hours ago, guitarzombie said:

Im inclined to agree.  The same bullheadedness that made the WWF a global band, is also the same bullheadedness thats ruined it.

That's a good way to put it. Stubbornness definitely does go both ways.

[guitarzombie | 924]

On 7/24/2022 at 1:43 PM, Bearcat-Doug said:

That's a good way to put it. Stubbornness definitely does go both ways.

Somehow I typed "band" instead of "bRand" haha, but yeah the point still stands.

[B.A. | 1,139]

I watched the beginning of Raw last night for the 1st time in years.  Made it about 10 minutes in before I couldn't take any more Roman Reigns and the Usos standing around looking smug.  Doesn't seem like I have been missing much! 

[guitarzombie | 924]

1 hour ago, B.A. said:

I watched the beginning of Raw last night for the 1st time in years.  Made it about 10 minutes in before I couldn't take any more Roman Reigns and the Usos standing around looking smug.  Doesn't seem like I have been missing much! 

Itll probably take a bit of time.  I didn't watch but I know there's a curiosity factor.  I remember Cornette saying something like this, how the booking can't really just turn on a dime and expect immediate results.  So hopefully at first we can see little changes (like saying the word hospital, for chrissakes) and then eventually larger, better ones.

[B.A. | 1,139]

1 minute ago, guitarzombie said:

Itll probably take a bit of time.  I didn't watch but I know there's a curiosity factor.  I remember Cornette saying something like this, how the booking can't really just turn on a dime and expect immediate results.  So hopefully at first we can see little changes (like saying the word hospital, for chrissakes) and then eventually larger, better ones.

Yeah I actually tuned in to see if they would address the change, which they didn't.

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

Reports are McMahon already wrote a majority of last night's episode before he retired. 

Let's see what things look like in a month or two.

[DarkTone | 985]

And now Paul is in charge and gonna make things bad. 

[guitarzombie | 924]

15 hours ago, DarkTone said:

And now Paul is in charge and gonna make things bad. 

Can only go up if you're already at the bottom haha

[twiztor | 851]

All Out '22 just dropped AEW pretty far down my priority list. aew obviously does not want to go in the direction i want to eatch. damn near every match result was the exact opposite choice of what i thought was sensible. 

[AirVillain | 490]

On 7/28/2022 at 1:56 AM, DarkTone said:

And now Paul is in charge and gonna make things bad. 

Raw/Smackdown got INSTANTLY better, though.

There was actual WRESTLING and promos on like the 2nd show after Vince was gone, it was very refreshing.

Even the weird/garbage storylines got better because the wrestlers were actually allowed to wrestle and were cutting their own promos.

Of course, they're hitting all the easy stuff... saying "wrestling" and "we're wrestlers" and stuff, but I liked it. Drew Mac cut that promo w/ Kevin Owens but I was cool with it. 

 

2 hours ago, twiztor said:

All Out '22 just dropped AEW pretty far down my priority list. aew obviously does not want to go in the direction i want to eatch. damn near every match result was the exact opposite choice of what i thought was sensible. 

I didn't watch the PPV, but based on how Dynamites go it was probably nuts. The card was insane. 

There's a ton going on in AEW right now and it's mostly all good.

I mean.... I get if the storylines aren't what you want, but you gotta chill on some of that and wait it out.

They want Punk to have a run before it's too late, Acclaimed are still growing (and this was the "we can be there" match for them, so they'll keep their title chase going so when they win it will be even better)....

Not sure what else you're so chuffed about, haha. 

The AEW "media scrum" after the PPV was a gong show. That's what I love about pro wrestling. Blurring the lines between reality and the show.

CM Punk is either 1) a genius or 2) an asshole. Maybe a little bit of both?

Edited September 6, 2022 by AirVillain

[DarkTone | 985]

For now. Besides NXT I dont trust him doing the right thing. Batista won the rumble when it should have been bryan. Orton became undisputed champion. And the outlaws won the tag belts. All his mates got over on the same ppv. He should have jobbed to booker at mania, and sting too. And he's only relevant because he married a mcmahon. 

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

9 hours ago, AirVillain said:

The AEW "media scrum" after the PPV was a gong show. That's what I love about pro wrestling. Blurring the lines between reality and the show.

CM Punk is either 1) a genius or 2) an asshole. Maybe a little bit of both?

From what is being said, Punk's comments and the fight that broke out in the locker room were legit. I have a feeling Punk has a guaranteed contract so he can do and say whatever he wants and if he pushes it to the point where Tony Khan has to fire him, he still gets paid. 

[twiztor | 851]

11 hours ago, AirVillain said:

I didn't watch the PPV, but based on how Dynamites go it was probably nuts. The card was insane. 

There's a ton going on in AEW right now and it's mostly all good.

I mean.... I get if the storylines aren't what you want, but you gotta chill on some of that and wait it out.

They want Punk to have a run before it's too late, Acclaimed are still growing (and this was the "we can be there" match for them, so they'll keep their title chase going so when they win it will be even better)....

Not sure what else you're so chuffed about, haha. 

the matches were all good and some (Acclaimed vs. Lee/Swerve) were great. no complaints as far as in-ring output goes. it seems like every week they pull out at least one banger of a match.

Omega/Young Bucks winning the trios belt was some foregone conclusion shit. i'm excited that Omega is back, but come on. the YB are constantly put over everybody else, all the time. they're the only 2-time tag champs. did they really need to be the first trios champs too? Maybe Dark Order, who at one point was insanely over (granted that was not recently!) and have been there since Day 1 could have gotten a reward. Or maybe the Best Friends (for all the same reasons). Or House of Black (who have been doing amazing work in spite of injuries). Or Death Triangle (who seems pretty pointless as a trio unless they're actually utilized in this way). Just the most obvious LOL CENA WINS booking. 

Swerve/Keith Lee are fine but they should have called an audible and had the Acclaimed take the straps. the crowd was SO into them. But no, let's keep the belts on the less-over former WWE guys.

worst for me was CM Punk. By the story they were telling, Punk is old, injured/not 100%, lacking confidence, and beaten bloody. So of course he "out-toughs" Moxley (being rough and tough is the basis of his entire character). Punk hasn't put over anybody in an AEW ring yet. It's been a year and he talked about wanting to elevate talent. How's that going?

stop making Jericho a focus of the shows. His matches are shadows of what he used to be. He's slow, his finish looks like complete shit 90% of the time, and his talking segments every week are a snooze. He also wins way too much, and he's not doing much to elevate younger talent either.

Remember the "4 Pillars"? Darby Allin, Jungle Boy, Sammy Guevara, and MJF. How did they do? Allin (won a pointless 6 man tag). Jungle Boy (lost in a non-match). Sammy (won on the prelims). MJF (big surprise return, seemingly in the World title picture). Darby has done fuck-all in the last couple of years. Just bounced around from meaningless semi-feud to meaningless semi-feud. Dude should have been a star, between his looks and his daredevil antics, but instead he's doing nothing of value.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

This is getting crazy!

https://nodq.com/news/there-are-reportedly-pending-legal-issues-in-aew-due-to-cm-punks-incident-with-the-elite/

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

Omega and the Bucks got suspended and it looks like Punk might be gone.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cagesideseats.com/platform/amp/aew/2022/9/7/23340797/young-bucks-kenny-omega-suspended-aew-cm-punk-fired-possibly-all-out-brawl

[guitarzombie | 924]

[AirVillain | 490]

On 9/6/2022 at 1:50 AM, DarkTone said:

For now. Besides NXT I dont trust him doing the right thing. Batista won the rumble when it should have been bryan. Orton became undisputed champion. And the outlaws won the tag belts. All his mates got over on the same ppv. He should have jobbed to booker at mania, and sting too. And he's only relevant because he married a mcmahon. 

I mean... I get what you're saying. But all your examples were during Vince's time so it was Vince protecting Hunter as much as anything. 

When you mention Sting and Booker, I agree.... but they're "WCW guys" so of course Vince isn't going to have them win at 'Mania...?

The problem is.... Vince has literally been in charge since the 80's. But he had people to properly help him. Aka Pat Patterson. Once Patterson left (died RIP) and a giant writing team came in Vince just okayed what he liked and it a lot went to shit. And we all know how bad it got.

So with Hunter, at least he was treating the WRESTLING properly. The fans weren't treated like idiots (Samoa Joe, Adam Cole, Gargano, Ciampa all keeping their names) and NXT was having INSANE wrestling shows. Some of the Takeovers they put on were incredible. 

So, as has already been demonstrated, at least Hunter is going back to that and lettign wresters "be themselves" and run with what they have. 

 

On 9/6/2022 at 11:00 AM, twiztor said:

the matches were all good and some (Acclaimed vs. Lee/Swerve) were great. no complaints as far as in-ring output goes. it seems like every week they pull out at least one banger of a match.

Omega/Young Bucks winning the trios belt was some foregone conclusion shit. i'm excited that Omega is back, but come on. the YB are constantly put over everybody else, all the time. they're the only 2-time tag champs. did they really need to be the first trios champs too? Maybe Dark Order, who at one point was insanely over (granted that was not recently!) and have been there since Day 1 could have gotten a reward. Or maybe the Best Friends (for all the same reasons). Or House of Black (who have been doing amazing work in spite of injuries). Or Death Triangle (who seems pretty pointless as a trio unless they're actually utilized in this way). Just the most obvious LOL CENA WINS booking. 

Swerve/Keith Lee are fine but they should have called an audible and had the Acclaimed take the straps. the crowd was SO into them. But no, let's keep the belts on the less-over former WWE guys.

worst for me was CM Punk. By the story they were telling, Punk is old, injured/not 100%, lacking confidence, and beaten bloody. So of course he "out-toughs" Moxley (being rough and tough is the basis of his entire character). Punk hasn't put over anybody in an AEW ring yet. It's been a year and he talked about wanting to elevate talent. How's that going?

stop making Jericho a focus of the shows. His matches are shadows of what he used to be. He's slow, his finish looks like complete shit 90% of the time, and his talking segments every week are a snooze. He also wins way too much, and he's not doing much to elevate younger talent either.

Remember the "4 Pillars"? Darby Allin, Jungle Boy, Sammy Guevara, and MJF. How did they do? Allin (won a pointless 6 man tag). Jungle Boy (lost in a non-match). Sammy (won on the prelims). MJF (big surprise return, seemingly in the World title picture). Darby has done fuck-all in the last couple of years. Just bounced around from meaningless semi-feud to meaningless semi-feud. Dude should have been a star, between his looks and his daredevil antics, but instead he's doing nothing of value.

It was pretty obvious once Death Triangle was eliminated it would be Bucks and Omega, but I liked what they did with Hangman and The Dark Order. 

But I think they (AEW) wanted to do it for Kenny. Give him the W on the big return. 

Oof.... Punk. I respect him for taking the bumps and going out there and putting himself out there and actually WRESLTING dudes. He wasn't great, but I respected the fact that he went out and put his body through that. That match (and powerbombs) he had with Wardlow was bonkers.

I get it that Moxley should win, but I also understand that AEW wants Punk to have a run as champ. So I get it both ways. 

You're saying "remember" as if those 4 guys are all retired, haha.

Jungle Boy couldn't cut a promo for shit so he's working with Christian and getting better every week. 

MJF is now #1 contender and WAS going to feud with Punk for the title?

Sammy isn't gettign buried (on TV all the time). 

And yeah, Darby has been working some "basic" feuds but he's working (aka learning) with Sting and still on TV all the time. 

They're all still in their 20's, hahaha. 

Mick Foley didn't get to WWE until like 14 years in the business, same with Stone Cold, Eddie, etc., etc.

 

 

1 hour ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

Omega and the Bucks got suspended and it looks like Punk might be gone.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cagesideseats.com/platform/amp/aew/2022/9/7/23340797/young-bucks-kenny-omega-suspended-aew-cm-punk-fired-possibly-all-out-brawl

This shit is pretty wild. 

Does not seem to be handled well by Tony Khan/AEW?

I mean... they probably shouldn't have sent Colt Cabana away, and just kept him with Dark Order?

I figure sending him away caused a bunch of unnecessary drama, when you could have worked on the fact of having those two guys in the same locker room and moving forward professionally, as Punk always said he would....?

[twiztor | 851]

2 hours ago, AirVillain said:

[cut for brevity]

glad you're enjoying the shows. i'm not (at least not to the level i had been previously), and i laid out why. not really interested in debating finer points of this wrestlers or that angle or whatever, because it's all subjective.

not everything AEW is doing is bad, but enough is trending in the direction i'm not interested in heading. i'll still try to catch Dynamite each week, but it won't be live, and i won't be avoiding spoilers like i normally would. Rampage will be hit or miss as well. will be happy to move it back up that priority list if they can just feature a bit more that's what i'm looking for.