The Official Professional Wrestling Thread

[Atiba Applebum]

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I think having Roman go over was the right call for now but it’s gotta end soon. He’s out of contenders who we can believe may take the titles.

Good to see the Best In The World was back, despite his botch.

[close]

But who takes it?   Cody was the last one to make sense.   Jey wouldn’t be elevated by the title and would like have a kofi style reign - fine, but not exceptional.   Honestly, Dwayne is the only one who makes sense anymore.

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I think it can be any top guy ONCE the Bloodline is dissolved as they are the only reason Reigns retains. So without them, he’d have lost already from a story line perspective. It was a wrap last night had Solo remained ejected from ringside. So I think we are headed in that slow but sure direction as the Usos lost. Otherwise we may see a draft & those titles split.

I see what you mean and I like the idea, but I think that special moment is gone after Sami last month and Cody now.   If Roman finally drops it at a Saudi show…

[PatrickSkateman]

Roman will drop it to Jake Paul to appease their new UFC overlords.

[Mr. Kamikazi]

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I think having Roman go over was the right call for now but it’s gotta end soon. He’s out of contenders who we can believe may take the titles.

Good to see the Best In The World was back, despite his botch.

[close]

But who takes it?   Cody was the last one to make sense.   Jey wouldn’t be elevated by the title and would like have a kofi style reign - fine, but not exceptional.   Honestly, Dwayne is the only one who makes sense anymore.

[close]

I think it can be any top guy ONCE the Bloodline is dissolved as they are the only reason Reigns retains. So without them, he’d have lost already from a story line perspective. It was a wrap last night had Solo remained ejected from ringside. So I think we are headed in that slow but sure direction as the Usos lost. Otherwise we may see a draft & those titles split.

[close]

I see what you mean and I like the idea, but I think that special moment is gone after Sami last month and Cody now.   If Roman finally drops it at a Saudi show…

I think Cody will get it but last night was the beginning of a real storyline with Rhodes, Owens, Zayn & the Bloodline. I think the random top dog challengers who we all know will lose are done for now.

[Sativa Lung]

As much as I like Cody and will always admire how much of a purebred carny he is, I think realistically now that Vincent McPrice is back his odds of winning the belt drastic go down (like Kurt Angle was added to the mix). If ever there was a time to do it it was last night, but this is VKM we're talking about so I feel like we might have a better shot at seeing Cody and Brandi shucking and jiving in polka dots at this point.

I almost think Vince either will just let Roman win everything until he gets bored and leaves for his inevitable failed acting stint, or he'll make him drop it to Theory.

Endeavor deal just makes it easier to hate them and I kinda hope they run off all the talent like they have in the UFC.

I dunno about blowing quads, but I feel like Steph certainly knows a thing or two about blowing Trips. Heyyyy-oooooo!

[Atiba Applebum]

As much as I like Cody and will always admire how much of a purebred carny he is, I think realistically now that Vincent McPrice is back his odds of winning the belt drastic go down (like Kurt Angle was added to the mix). If ever there was a time to do it it was last night, but this is VKM we're talking about so I feel like we might have a better shot at seeing Cody and Brandi shucking and jiving in polka dots at this point.

I almost think Vince either will just let Roman win everything until he gets bored and leaves for his inevitable failed acting stint, or he'll make him drop it to Theory.

Endeavor deal just makes it easier to hate them and I kinda hope they run off all the talent like they have in the UFC.

I dunno about blowing quads, but I feel like Steph certainly knows a thing or two about blowing Trips. Heyyyy-oooooo!

So jealous of that joke.   Jesus

[Sativa Lung]

Before night 2 started, we watched most of 1983's AWA Super Sunday program. Hulk losing his title match to Bockwinkel due to a retroactive DQ was interesting to see, apparently many consider it a watershed moment in the beginning of the end of the era of the territories. Main event had Mad Dog Vachon & Verne Gagne against Jerry Blackwell and Sheik Adnan al Kaisse, that was pretty awesome.

Ehh.. The big territories weren't even at their hottest point until a year or two after that.. I wouldn't be surprised if WWE tries to portray it that way but it's not really how it went down. Crockett had a private jet and Jerry Jarrett made enough money to buy half of Nashville in the mid-late 80s. Vince did raid the fuck out of the AWA and steal a lot of their production though, as you I'm sure you noticed. You'll watch an 82/83 awa weekly TV and half the people ended up on the first mania or two. It's a really fascinating period for me across the entire wrestling world.

I usually enjoy Crusher Blackwell matches. I actually think a big part of why I took an instant shine to Otis is he kinda reminds me of him, although obviously way more athletic. Jerry could move for a 400 pounder though, but he didn't take care of himself so his run was pretty short all things considered. I always liked how AWA top guys used to travel to other territories sometimes so like there's a match with him wrestling Lawler at the mid south coliseum with Lance Russell on commentary that's pretty fun. The traveling champion thing is cool even when they do it nowadays but Bockwinkel used to go to Texas to work for Paul Boesch and to Calgary to work for Stu... I've seen clips of him wrestling Bret in like 81 or 82.

Anyways I just couldn't let a mention of the old days go unreplied to haha.. If there's still World Class World Class stuff on there I would definitely recommend checking it out if you enjoyed AWA. It's a different vibe (closer to the southern wrasslin promotions) but you'll see a lot of the stuff Vince picked off and later incorporated as well.

Just heard that Bushwhacker Butch Miller passed. Really sad to hear that...Everyone should go out and lick someones face in his honor. Seriously though, as a kid and I would put my camo hat on and do the bushwhacker walk around my house when they came on so I'm pretty bummed. It's one of those unfortunate ways I can benchmark how old I'm getting. Here's a little nostalgia nugget to celebrate him.

So jealous of that joke.   Jesus

Always nice to get a pop.

[Atiba Applebum]

Obviously could google this (but I like tapping people’s direct knowledge) - Jay White related to one of the Bushwhackers?

[Sativa Lung]

Obviously could google this (but I like tapping people’s direct knowledge) - Jay White related to one of the Bushwhackers?

Never heard that before so I googled it and all I could find was a vague tweet. I'd say possible, maybe even plausible, but I'd need some sort of confirmation. I can't imagine the NZ wrestling community is huge so it's entirely possible it's like Hawaii or Memphis back in the day and everyone is somehow related either by blood or marriage. There was actually a NZ territory in the 80s that was either an affiliate or maybe even full member of the NWA and guys like Flair and Race would actually travel there to defend the belt from time to time. I stumbled upon it one time and it's pretty cool, classic studio wrestling but with a kiwi twist.

Apparently raw was an absolute disaster, Vince is back at gorilla, changed a bunch of shit right before the show, brought back his stupid commentary rules, and cut the women's match, and talent is not happy about any of this. I want it to be a dumpster fire so bad. Tony, this is your chance to gain back some ground. Please don't fuck it up.

[Atiba Applebum]

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Obviously could google this (but I like tapping people’s direct knowledge) - Jay White related to one of the Bushwhackers?

[close]

Never heard that before so I googled it and all I could find was a vague tweet. I'd say possible, maybe even plausible, but I'd need some sort of confirmation. I can't imagine the NZ wrestling community is huge so it's entirely possible it's like Hawaii or Memphis back in the day and everyone is somehow related either by blood or marriage. There was actually a NZ territory in the 80s that was either an affiliate or maybe even full member of the NWA and guys like Flair and Race would actually travel there to defend the belt from time to time. I stumbled upon it one time and it's pretty cool, classic studio wrestling but with a kiwi twist.

Apparently raw was an absolute disaster, Vince is back at gorilla, changed a bunch of shit right before the show, brought back his stupid commentary rules, and cut the women's match, and talent is not happy about any of this. I want it to be a dumpster fire so bad. Tony, this is your chance to gain back some ground. Please don't fuck it up.

FTR is going to make damn sure they don’t lose Wednesday now.   

[Mr. Kamikazi]

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Obviously could google this (but I like tapping people’s direct knowledge) - Jay White related to one of the Bushwhackers?

[close]

Never heard that before so I googled it and all I could find was a vague tweet. I'd say possible, maybe even plausible, but I'd need some sort of confirmation. I can't imagine the NZ wrestling community is huge so it's entirely possible it's like Hawaii or Memphis back in the day and everyone is somehow related either by blood or marriage. There was actually a NZ territory in the 80s that was either an affiliate or maybe even full member of the NWA and guys like Flair and Race would actually travel there to defend the belt from time to time. I stumbled upon it one time and it's pretty cool, classic studio wrestling but with a kiwi twist.

Apparently raw was an absolute disaster, Vince is back at gorilla, changed a bunch of shit right before the show, brought back his stupid commentary rules, and cut the women's match, and talent is not happy about any of this. I want it to be a dumpster fire so bad. Tony, this is your chance to gain back some ground. Please don't fuck it up.

Confirming that Raw was all over the place. Lesnar turning on Rhodes was interesting but the whole concept of RAW after Mania being its own historical event really was not the case. The main event was Lesnar just beating the hell out of Rhodes. I’m assuming a storyline is coming of obstacles Rhodes will have to go through to get to the Roman Empire.

[PatrickSkateman]

Never forget.

Also, it’s high time Montez Ford has his HBK heel turn and subsequent solo success. He’s due.

[Mr. Kamikazi]

Also, there’s no way AEW will come out on top. They already are in their 1999 WCW phase.

[Atiba Applebum]

Also, there’s no way AEW will come out on top. They already are in their 1999 WCW phase.

I don’t think the goal was ever to beat WWE.   WWE has had wayy too big of a head start esp with brand recognition.   The goal was always to be a viable, sustainable alternative (a legit one unlike TNA) which they’ve accomplished.   WB is giving them a Saturday show and is definitely happy with them.   They aren’t going anywhere but up

[WPG]

I haven't watched Raw in a long time but I was pissed about how pointless that episode was. Lowlights for me were HHH coming to the ring to try and conVince himself everything will be alright, 2 squash matches, Seth entering the ring in full attire to just leave for no reason, hyped up main event not happening. Highlights Sami/KO vs profits, and I did enjoy brock beating up cody but would've rather watched the "Greatest Match in RAW History"

[Sativa Lung]

I haven't watched Raw in a long time but I was pissed about how pointless that episode was. Lowlights for me were HHH coming to the ring to try and conVince himself everything will be alright, 2 squash matches, Seth entering the ring in full attire to just leave for no reason, hyped up main event not happening. Highlights Sami/KO vs profits, and I did enjoy brock beating up cody but would've rather watched the "Greatest Match in RAW History"

I kinda mentioned this in one of my wm posts but I could tangibly feel the difference between night one and night two. It was like I could feel my skin crawling once fuckin demon balor got jobbed out to old ass edge.

It's not even really about the shitty booking for me... Look I know he never really let go of power, but at least they were putting up a facade of doing the less wrong thing and shuffling him off to the retirement home. Now the fucking rapist who's paid out god only knows how many millions in hush money not only gets everything back, he gets billions of dollars on top of it. I can't in any way support that and have no qualms about hoping it leads to a twitter-esque advertising exodus. What a slap in the face to all the women in the company... Gotta be a blast having the creepy old fuck wiggling his shitty just for men mustache at you while he tells you how you need to get implants and a radioactive tan if you want a shot at blowing him for a push.

Looks like Bayley is the first one to go. Her and Hayter could be money if she can still go like she could in her NXT days, but I feel like she'll go do something with Mercedes instead. Andrade is also suddenly tweeting about how he's loyal to AEW and will be back soon hahaha.

If the rumors about a 6:05 show are true then there are a shocking amount of cards falling into place for the snowman. I hope they just make it a 2 hour dark where they can stretch out that huge roster and young guys can get some experience and eyes on them without feeling like they need to do crazy shit every single match. Do the occasional competitive main event and throw some upsets in here and there but mostly make it about character development. Basically just WCW Saturday night haha.

[Atiba Applebum]

Two straight loses for Demon Balor…the gimmick where it’s supposed to be his final form.

Bayley might be a good team for Willow.   Bubbly people who can go hard when needed.   

There was a funny meme of Tony’s phone getting all these positive texts from FTR, Andrade, and Miro willing to play ball.   Wonder what Regals status is.

[Billy Bitchcakes]

Apparently Cody losing was decided a while back, not a last minute decision. I know rumours of Roman vs Rock were circulating for over a year, so perhaps they had the continuation of Roman's story post WM written out after beating Rock and are just carrying on with that? Also makes sense they'd prefer him as the face of the company when this buyout happens too. Who knows, not sure it was a last minute Vinceism though.

Seems like a fun 9 months WWE had. I never tuned back in regularly but it seemed much better. I wonder how AEW will respond to the mess.

[Mr. Kamikazi]

Apparently Cody losing was decided a while back, not a last minute decision. I know rumours of Roman vs Rock were circulating for over a year, so perhaps they had the continuation of Roman's story post WM written out after beating Rock and are just carrying on with that? Also makes sense they'd prefer him as the face of the company when this buyout happens too. Who knows, not sure it was a last minute Vinceism though.

Seems like a fun 9 months WWE had. I never tuned back in regularly but it seemed much better. I wonder how AEW will respond to the mess.

I too read this.


As far as how AEW is responding, they certainly did not make a case tonight on Rampage. Should I start with the Blackpool combat club & Danielson using a screwdriver to "fix the house" & gouging at Hangman but the camera just avoiding it the whole time (fucking dreadful on the microphone) OR Tony Khan giving a terrible interview looking out of his mind & clearly reading off a teleprompter & having Adam Cole attempt to reiterate.

[Atiba Applebum]

They don’t really have to do much.  Just do two things that VKM hates - feature wrestling matches, don’t bait and switch matches/main events.   It’s why I never quite get fan loyalty to the Fed.  Vince has such obvious contempt for them (as when he reportedly laughed derisively when his writers told him people weren’t thrilled Corbin was retiring Angle)

FTR and Shia LeBoeuf/Jay White choosing AEW speaks a lot about how wrestlers feel, if not audiences.   

And All In at Wembley is big news.    They need to start chasing spectacle. 

[Billy Bitchcakes]

I thought Dynamite was good, but yeah the screwdriver thing was super cringe. I don't know why the 'gauge out the eye' thing is so common, it's so stupid.

Wembley show is huge, the stadium is 90,000 seats before floor seating. The announcement more than lived up to TK's hype this time for me but as a bri'ish I was laughing thinking about all the Americans raging at being underwhelmed lol. Shame it always rains on August bank holiday weekend though

Shia LeBoeuf/Jay White

Hahaha

[Atiba Applebum]

I thought Dynamite was good, but yeah the screwdriver thing was super cringe. I don't know why the 'gauge out the eye' thing is so common, it's so stupid.

Wembley show is huge, the stadium is 90,000 seats before floor seating. The announcement more than lived up to TK's hype this time for me but as a bri'ish I was laughing thinking about all the Americans raging at being underwhelmed lol. Shame it always rains on August bank holiday weekend though

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Shia LeBoeuf/Jay White

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Hahaha

My least favorite wrestling weapon convention is using the belt to hit someone in the face.   Am I stupid or would that not hurt that bad compared to almost any other wrestling move (in kayfabe)?

[Mr. Kamikazi]

I thought Dynamite was good, but yeah the screwdriver thing was super cringe. I don't know why the 'gauge out the eye' thing is so common, it's so stupid.

Wembley show is huge, the stadium is 90,000 seats before floor seating. The announcement more than lived up to TK's hype this time for me but as a bri'ish I was laughing thinking about all the Americans raging at being underwhelmed lol. Shame it always rains on August bank holiday weekend though

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Shia LeBoeuf/Jay White

[close]

Hahaha

How the hell are they going to make that place look full without paying people to come?

[Atiba Applebum]

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I thought Dynamite was good, but yeah the screwdriver thing was super cringe. I don't know why the 'gauge out the eye' thing is so common, it's so stupid.

Wembley show is huge, the stadium is 90,000 seats before floor seating. The announcement more than lived up to TK's hype this time for me but as a bri'ish I was laughing thinking about all the Americans raging at being underwhelmed lol. Shame it always rains on August bank holiday weekend though

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Shia LeBoeuf/Jay White

[close]

Hahaha

[close]

How the hell are they going to make that place look full without paying people to come?

the rumored Sting retirement match will help

[Sativa Lung]

Wembley stadium is big news but I'm honestly not sure they'll be able to fill it. I feel like they're gonna end up papering half of London the same way wwf used to.

FTR in a LLT match two days after Vince came back might be the most unintentionally hilarious obvious booking situation I've seen in a while.  Kinda starting to feel the same about FTR matches as I do about the bucks. Same old shit. Austin Gunn has some Eddie Gilbert in him though

Trios match didn't quite live up to my high expectations but it wasn't bad. I just think all 6 can go but it wasn't the best situation to show it. Glad they're booking HoB strong again though.

Hayter vs Riho should have been a 30 second squash. I don't hate Riho but I think her having that long reign is part of why people didn't take AEWs women seriously for a long time so I don't want her anywhere near the title and she sure as fuck should not be kicking out of Hayterade.

MJF hometown pop is like when Bret would go to Canada haha. Never thought I'd see the day that a wrestler would be scatting...and it brought the house down. Him popping himself when the crowd started chanting ADD was so endearing.. This kid is just the fucking best.

I really, really, really hope we aren't getting a Sammy match in Pittsburgh in two weeks. I usually don't like smarky crowds but the "you still suck" chant after his flippy shit made me smile. Komander did some cool shit but I felt like the crowd just wasn't into it because it was Sammy. That promo was a disaster. Glad to see fans are learning sitting on their hands is the best way to make him look bad though. Too bad Tony seems to just ignore it every time.

Hook with another non match. Matt Hardy does his best dollar store Jericho and latches on to him.

Please get Moxley's backyard deathmatch bullshit the fuck away from the main event. It was cool like twice last summer and it's been fucking annoying ever since. The worst part is Hangman is fucking great at deathmatches so if it wasn't for Moxley's dumb ass making them routine they could do something fun. The gouging the eye thing is probably just so he can wear an eyepatch for a month then forget about it. Only a true visionary like TK would look at the product and go "we need a Scotty Riggs".

All access looks absolutely cringeworthy and I ain't watchin that shit.

[Atiba Applebum]

You def wouldn’t like it bc of the Sammy/Tay stuff.   

I don’t mind Riho because she moves fast and projects fearlessness even though she looks like the Childlike Empress.   I’ve seen a lot of nationally televised women matches of late where they seem to be going half speed, so I appreciate that these two had a great tempo going.   

I feel they have something up their sleeve with Wembley.  In the announcement, All In was tied pretty hard to WB’s 100 year celebration, so I gotta imagine there’s going to be something going on with that.   Not to mention potentially:
       - Omega vs Osprey (round 2?)
       - Sting Retirement match

[Billy Bitchcakes]

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I thought Dynamite was good, but yeah the screwdriver thing was super cringe. I don't know why the 'gauge out the eye' thing is so common, it's so stupid.

Wembley show is huge, the stadium is 90,000 seats before floor seating. The announcement more than lived up to TK's hype this time for me but as a bri'ish I was laughing thinking about all the Americans raging at being underwhelmed lol. Shame it always rains on August bank holiday weekend though

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Shia LeBoeuf/Jay White

[close]

Hahaha

[close]

How the hell are they going to make that place look full without paying people to come?

London is a hub for the whole of Europe and parts of Asia. Way easier for a huge part of the world to come here instead of the USA. It holds NBA and NFL and things like that there for the same reason. And you guys probably don't realise how starved we are of big shit like this. Think how many big sporting / entertainment / music / whatever events happen in the US every single year. We ain't got shit.

Clash at the Castle had 62,000 and that was in fucking Wales. I reckon they can at least manage that and that would be fine.

[Sativa Lung]

You def wouldn’t like it bc of the Sammy/Tay stuff.   

I don’t mind Riho because she moves fast and projects fearlessness even though she looks like the Childlike Empress.   I’ve seen a lot of nationally televised women matches of late where they seem to be going half speed, so I appreciate that these two had a great tempo going.   

I feel they have something up their sleeve with Wembley.  In the announcement, All In was tied pretty hard to WB’s 100 year celebration, so I gotta imagine there’s going to be something going on with that.   Not to mention potentially:
       - Omega vs Osprey (round 2?)
       - Sting Retirement match

It's not so much that I don't think they're going to go as huge as possible as just a matter of scale. Wembley can hold almost 100k people which is like 1/8th of the viewers dynamite is getting some weeks and more than some of their ppvs have pulled. Even with free admission I'm not sure you'll find 100k fans in the UK who are able to attend that day. I sure hope this doesn't turn out to be AEW's blackjack brawl, but I also won't be shocked if it is.

I often laugh at how unintentionally homoerotic wrestling was in the 80s so it brings me great joy when I find something like this picture of Road Warrior Animal.



He looks like he was being managed by Tom of Finland or something

[Billy Bitchcakes]

Wembley can hold almost 100k people which is like 1/8th of the viewers dynamite is getting some weeks

you do know that the viewing figures you're referring to are from one country right? on a continent that this event is not being held in

[Atiba Applebum]

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Wembley can hold almost 100k people which is like 1/8th of the viewers dynamite is getting some weeks

[close]

you do know that the viewing figures you're referring to are from one country right? on a continent that this event is not being held in

I guess that’s also part of the fun of calling it All In - reminds me of the first one, when back then no one thought an “indie” show could fill that stadium and I believe it sold out pretty damn quickly

[Mr. Kamikazi]

Rewatched NXT Stand & Deliver.

I suggest watching the Match for the North American title. No dull moments & just pure talent. JD McDonagh grew on me from that match alone (moonsault from the ropes was just so quick)  & Dragon Lee in that kind of action with Axiom was great. Dragunov continues to be a mad man & I need more.


Then this week, Bron is a heel after the Hayes win….