Professional Wrestling

[Swykk]

That was one of the worst episodes of Dynamite with the exception of Trent turning on OC. Even the contract signing made Swerve look weak—there was a way to have Joe get heat without making Swerve look that weak that he couldn’t choke Joe with a chain. Signing the contract in blood was almost enough to save it but then Joe just annihilated him again.

Let’s hope Ospreay didn’t hurt Hobbs.

Lance Archer sucks. He’s like someone made Rybread taller. He made a Bryan Danielson match boring. That’s how bad he is.

The Cope promo was real sad rah rah false positivity and the Bucks referencing Perry was just stupid. This is not the way to handle things. Get back to doing pro wrestling and being fun again. That’s what made AEW different and special.

I can’t stand Willow and her promo was bad. All of this dims Julia Hart, who is doing great. Mercedes is taking that title. Everyone knows so everything in between is wasting time. Also, just turn Statlander (who rules) already.

A lot of you guys love Jay White. I don’t, but I don’t think he’s looked worse than having to play begging heel against…Billy Gunn. He looked real bad.

It’s like Tony rage wrote this show right after watching Ariel’s Punk interview.

[Demogorgon]

It’s like Tony rage wrote this show right after watching Ariel’s Punk interview.

Bingo.

[ltrandazzo]

That Edge promo was about as bad as when the McMahons came out and said that they had been listening to the fans and things were going to change. And then the year 2019 happened. Fucking cringey as hell, all of it.

[Swykk]

Did you see the Peppa Pig in a NIN shirt sign?

[shagg_187]

Which one of you is this?

[RJK]

It's Mattia if you know them

[tony.parente]

I only caught the main even of night 1. It was kinda mid, every member of that match is infinitely better than what they put out tonight. Still hyped for avengers night 2.

[thefragile_jake]

That sucked. Thank goodness I stopped getting invested or caring about wrestling so I don't end up feeling disappointed.

[Swykk]

I liked it overall. Sami vs Gunther was fantastic and I popped knowing Owens would show up to provide encouragement. That match ruled. I liked the ladder tag match. I thought Becky and Rhea did a great job too.

On the other hand, the Usos shit the bed. That was terrible start to finish. Then the match after with All Green Everything was bad too. Jade makes Carmella look like she has great timing. She’s still so far behind. Damage Control did everything they could to make her look good but Jade has not improved her footwork.

The main event was what I expected honestly from someone that hasn’t wrestled in years, a guy (not THE guy) who always dials it in, and two dudes that have huge matches on Night 2. I figured the deck would be stacked against Cody. I think guys Roman has screwed in the past will help Cody even the odds and Rock could even turn on Roman in the end. We’ll see. I tend to think he won’t and him pinning Cody sets up a future match between them instead.

[richardp]

Night One was pretty damn good. I'd give it a 7/10. Would be higher if Jey and Jimmy wasn't so underwhelming. What the hell happened there?? Ladder Match and IC Title were easily the highlights of the night. I enjoyed the main event quit a bit for what it was. I didn't even realize it was 45 minutes so it definitely kept my attention.

[otnavuskire]

I almost never watch wrestling anymore, but now that it's easier with the events on Peacock, I'll watch the big events every once in a while. I really enjoyed last night. Looking forward to tonight.

[richardp]

Spoiler: Damian Priest with the cash-in was fucking AWESOME.

Night 2 was a LOT of fun. I'd give it an 8.5 or 9/10. They really packed an insane amount of cool moments into the entire show, and industry hyperbole aside, that genuinely was one of the best main events that Mania has ever had. Normally I'm not that into the "parade of legends" that happens sometimes at Mania, but they booked that so perfectly. It was just so much fun.

[RJK]

Not gonna lie I cried. I wouldn't even call myself a Cody fan but to witness his journey and knowing the story and him just being such a genuine dude it got me

[henryeatscereal]

The main event of Night 2 was overbooked as fuck, but at least it made sense and finally Cody finished the damn story.

WM was ok, i couldn't care less for most matches, but i liked the IC title match and Rhea VS Becky from night 1, McIntyre and Seth was Ok and i liked the main event, overbooking aside.

[elevenism]

How is Shawn Michaels doing, these days? Are the Rockers still tag team champs?

[elevenism]

jokes aside, i just got a shiny new fuckton of storage, and if you want me to put these events on Plex, let me know.

[henryeatscereal]

How is Shawn Michaels doing, these days? Are the Rockers still tag team champs?

They didn't wrestle last night but i heard they are promising, also this new guys called "The Hart Foundation".

Check out the WM main event, at least it had a Undertaker cameo.

[Swykk]

Loved The Return of the Jedi ending.

Loved that the last barriers that annoyed me about WWE fell tonight. Seth looked awful the entire run to Mania and really looked bad tonight. And I’ll say it again, Seth Rollins the wrestler is great. This Freakin’ character is not. When Punk said, “Look at this goof.” I couldn’t possibly have agreed more. This company guy is not great either. I would love him to disappear for a few months, really heal up so he feels better, then come back refreshed with a different character.

Which brings me to Roman, who finally fell. F I N A L L Y. Nobody dialed it in more in the modern era. Terrible champion and it’s a shame he got so complacent because fair being fair, his performance last night was near perfect. Not enough to excuse 1316 days of largely the same old lazy shit. It’s finally done. I had just one problem with the match itself and it had nothing to do with Roman or Cody. My sister actually texted it to me just as I was putting the thoughts together—why wasn’t it Stone Cold that came out to stop The Rock because The Undertaker can’t do shit anymore?

Anyway, I’m happy. It was a mostly fun Wrestlemania overall with some exceptions—Logan Paul sucks as a person. I kinda don’t care that he’s decent at wrestling. The juice isn’t worth the squeeze and yes, KO should’ve won. I mentioned Jade still sucks and that the Usos shit the bed. I don’t know what The Final Testament vs The Pride was or why those big dumb guys that Kross is saddled with who don’t sell shit were gone for so long towards the end of that trainwreck. And guys, LA Knight sucks. He no sold ALL of Styles’ knee work. Yeah.

Now let’s get into the positives! Sami vs Gunther was the best match of Wrestlemania. By far. I also loved Bayley getting her due, who Knight should be made to watch that match, because she sold the hell out of Iyo’s knee work. Drew beating Seth was right on and while Priest is far from my favorite guy, Drew outstaying his welcome and focusing on Punk and screwing himself in the process was perfect. The tag team ladder match was very fun. Rhea and Becky kicked it all off with a great back and forth start to things. I didn’t hate the tag main event of Night One like many folks did. It was what I expected and honestly, probably the best it could’ve been. The big main event of Cody and Roman was like 95% perfect. I’m a big fan of stealing finishers. Roman hitting the move, then talking shit about Cross Rhodes being a shitty move that never beat anyone made me laugh.

I’m repeating myself but I LOVED The Return Of The Jedi ending.

Where does it all go from here? I think they’ve signed Jacob Fatu (who I admit I do not like; he no showed a whole bunch of shows while he was on the indies) and Tama Tonga. So I think they’ll show up soon and align with The Bloodline. Cody’ll fight The Rock at Summerslam, I’d imagine. There’s plenty of fresh matchups for both new champions.

Wrestling is (mostly) good.

[Space Suicide]

The main event of Night 2 was overbooked as fuck, but at least it made sense and finally Cody finished the damn story.

WM was ok, i couldn't care less for most matches, but i liked the IC title match and Rhea VS Becky from night 1, McIntyre and Seth was Ok and i liked the main event, overbooking aside.

If AEW booked that main event it would be ridiculed to hell and back online for a week straight. The entire interference portion was preposterous.

WM40 was okay. Last year's was better and overall I wouldn't even place 40 in even the top 20 list.

I knew why they did what they did but damn man, that fucking shit ass Damien Priest as champion? Ugh.

Hopefully this stupid Punk feud results in Drew winning but I know he will end up losing to CM Punk because of course. Big man can never lose shit.

[tony.parente]

Wrestlemania XL was a solid ok/10. Cody should have won last year, it didn't have the big match feel this time around like last time. Great wrestling, no big mania moments for me.

Tony Khan is still using Punk for ratings and needs to stop rage booking - Punk is a cringy dork and there is no end game where AEW looks like anything but a bitter ex. AEW needs a boss.

I hope MJF shows up at Raw tonight.

[richardp]

I hope MJF shows up at Raw tonight.

MJF is not a free agent though. He legitimately signed a multi-year contract with AEW last year. He's not going anywhere. If anyone from AEW is going to show up on Raw tonight, it's going to be the Hardys.

[tony.parente]

MJF is not a free agent though. He legitimately signed a multi-year contract with AEW last year. He's not going anywhere. If anyone from AEW is going to show up on Raw tonight, it's going to be the Hardys.

The dirt sheets are a mess right now, half are saying he signed for 3-4 more years and the other half are saying his contract expired 12/31.

I love pro wrestling lol

[richardp]

Dude R Truth is such a treasure. The bit last night with him sliding into the ring during the Judgment Day's ceremony and saying "I brought the tag titles back to the Judgment Day!" was so fucking hilarious.

[the duder]

"All you had to do was leave!"
https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/20...a-seth-rollins

[Swykk]

Yeah, seems like that footage was just an attempt to heat up Bucks vs FTR 3? It’s nothing we didn’t already know. How fucking dumb. It makes AEW look weak.

There wasn’t audio but the video shows exactly what Punk said happened. Did Perry tell him to do something about it? I don’t know but this did nothing for EVP vs FTR and it especially did nothing for AEW. I rewatched again and Tony Schiavone’s face after (as FTR were coming out) pretty much says it all.

[the duder]

Maybe TK wouldn't have had to release all those folks if he'd just load the Okada cash cannons with ones instead of Benjamins....

[richardp]

I mean, Punk definitely was the instigator in the situation, but yeah even I'm over it at this point and really adds nothing to their program with FTR. I guess it's nice to have the footage, but it feels like it could have just been released on youtube.

[tony.parente]

Punk is a cringy, cancerous dork.
He is physically and emotionally fragile.
Tony Khan is a cringy dork.
He is emotionally fragile.

AEW has been making pot shots at the WWE since the start, WWE does the same one weekend and Khan has an absolute meltdown and starts rage booking the most embarrassing shit that is approaching 2000s WCW fingerpoke of doom levels of cringe.

That being said Will Osprea's clap back to HHH talking about grind culture was incredble. "the guy that said it is only in the position he’s in because he was grinding on the bosses daughter"

[Swykk]

Additionally, that was hardly a scuffle. Do people not remember Edge\Matt Hardy, Bret/Shawn, Bret/Vince, etc? Tony said he feared for his life. What? How? Fines would have been appropriate here. The end.

This has been the dumbest thing and I hope it’s done now.

[henryeatscereal]

Additionally, that was hardly a scuffle. Do people not remember Edge\Matt Hardy, Bret/Shawn, Bret/Vince, etc? Tony said he feared for his life. What? How? Fines would have been appropriate here. The end.

This has been the dumbest thing and I hope it’s done now.

Yeah, the WWE turned the Montreal screwjob into a storyline and a character for McMahon and got cheered but AEW showed the footage and got flamed for that,

i agree that it added nothing, but i hate double standards and I'm so fucking tired of tribalism.