The Swanton825

I don't know why bookers keep trying this strategy. Worked shoots function on the law of diminishing returns. Not to mention it's frustrating watching something and having to question whether or not you'll see a conclusion to this story or if this time someone stormed out for real. Imagine watching a TV show where the actor's real life contract dispute played out in the middle of a normal episode. It'd kill your suspension of disbelief.

While I agree that AEW are making a lot of the same mistakes, I don't get how Pillman Jr. is one of them. The dude is a pale imitation of his father. Yeah, a pale imitation of Brian Pillman is still a good worker and all that, but I don't understand people's hype for this guy. If Cody Rhodes gained 200 lbs. and started talking with a lisp we'd all mock him, yet it's okay that BPJ doesn't even try to be his own man in any way?

Once again, I am extremely late to the hype train on something. I finally watched Arcane and, speaking as someone who hates League of Legends with a passion and also much prefers 2D animation, this show is quite possibly one of the all-time best animated series! From start to finish I was enthralled by the gorgeous, flowing animation, fantastic worldbuilding and brilliantly written characters. Between this, Castlevania, Invincible and Love, Death & Robots, I finally have hope that serious animation can be successful outside of arthouse cinema and anime circles.

I feel bad now that my only exposure to Ace Steel prior to this was that godawful Trump vs Rosie O'Donnell match that is still seared into my brain after all these years. Ace was so awesome in his promo that part of me wanted him to rip the contract out of Punk's hands and sign it himself.

That would require Tony to give control over to someone else who can focus squarely on the women's division because it's clear that the current people at the top either don't know how to book them or don't care.

Oh nice! I'm a tightwad, so being able to watch them on YouTube is a big plus!

I'm super out of touch with the current puro trends so I'm sure I missed something, I read that GLEAT take a lot of UWFi influence but the highlights I've found so far look too choreographed to be shoot style. Is this one of those things like what Big Japan does (once again, out of touch so I have no idea if they've gone downhill) where they split the roster between different styles and GLEAT has a puro side and a shoot side?

I have to second Derek B on Ospreay being pushed as far as a gaijin wrestler will get pushed in a Japanese company unless they start living in Japan full-time, speak fluent Japanese and marry the daughter of a (probably) yakuza who (definitely) funds New Japan. They're also going to be a bit gun shy on pushing another westerner after Omega jumped ship. Edit: Totally willing to eat crow on my assumption that Punk would win after that promo last week. That's what growing up on late 2000s TNA does to a man's brain.

I should have phrased that better. Punk telegraphed that Mox has to win to stop him from looking like crap. Punk will almost definitely win because the guy who quit wrestling because part-timers and old has-beens kept holding him down is thrilled to be the one who gets to hold people down now. Controversial opinion: MJF doesn't need a rub from Punk to be a megastar, Punk needs MJF so he can feel like a "real" ring veteran "doing right by the younger guys" while hogging up airtime just like Jericho.

I think there's a point where remarking on someone's past or real life in a promo can work, but it has to work in the context of the story being told at that moment like (the original, not his Wish.com son) Pillman's loose cannon gimmick or the Miz example Levinux gave. Otherwise you wind up with weird lines like Bischoff's infamous "What's the matter, Sid? Can't find your scissors?" and then even half the hardcore fans are sitting there wondering what that meant. Also, with the way Punk phrased it he's basically telegraphed that Mox will win. That's literally the only way out of a heel saying his opponent is worthless. I've been enjoying the in-ring product with AEW, but I'll echo the others that many of the promos are dire. Mox, Kingston, Matt Menard (the only saving grace of the Jericho Appreciation Society dweebs) and Sonjay Dutt are the only ones who have consistently impressed for me. The rest often have me covering my face in embarrassment like I'm watching 2009 TNA again.

The metal snob in me is disappointed that her theme doesn't keep with the black metal style of the rest of the House of Black but it's still a solid song. The guitar solo part reminds me of Entombed's To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth for some reason.

Around the time he did his pacifist gimmick back in TNA. As goofy as it was, him and Jay Lethal in his Black Machismo gimmick feuding over SoCal Val was genuinely entertaining. At least until the obligatory Russo swerve heel turn by Val that killed the momentum.

Love this movie! Between it and The Crow, it just makes me sad thinking about how great of a potential action megastar we lost in Brandon Lee.

Swearing, just like gore and nudity, is an art form in creative mediums. Do it all the time and it loses its impact but if you avoid it entirely some dialogue/promos can come off toothless. Unless you're, say, Terry Funk and you can make calling someone a Florida cracker sound intimidating. The problem IMO is that everyone wants their own version of Austin 3:16 or, for a film example "Yippee-ki-yay motherf-" without bothering to learn about how those moments were built up to for maximum impact.

I thought the first AvP was good, but could have been better. I definitely liked the concept of the Predators breeding Xenomorphs as training prey to be a cool idea. AvP 2 on the other hand was a massive overcorrection on the lack of gore in the first movie and felt like it was made by a bunch of edgy teens who think mindless splatter is how you make a "serious" horror movie.

I'd also like to add to the praise for Prey. I absolutely loved the movie and honestly wish I'd pulled the trigger on watching it in Comanche. This is the first Predator movie since the second one to get to the heart of what I love about the series: a standard premise from another genre gets upended into a desperate fight for survival against a lone alien hunter. Predator - Standard Arnie action flick Predator 2 - Standard 90s crime thriller Prey - Standard coming of age Oscar bait This is why I think Predators and The Predator didn't hit right. Predators is just The Most Dangerous Game, but with alien hunters and The Predator is your run-of-the-mill government screws up containing an alien movie. In all the good Predator movies, the Predator almost feels like it's invading the plot of a different film. Having grown up in the general area Prey is set, I can confirm that it's far more accurate than most films. Particularly the killing of bison and leaving them to rot save for the fur.

Oh crap, I'm getting late 06 and 07 TNA flashbacks. Somebody make sure Russo didn't worm his way into a spot with creative!

Having a good mind for the business doesn't mean you don't make weird or dumb booking decisions. Just off the top of my head: Cornette okaying Storm & Jericho to use the double dropkick as a normal move in Smoky Mountain thus giving them heat with the RnR Express, Heyman letting Justin Credible hold the ECW Championship for half a year and Eric Bischoff genuinely letting Pillman out of his contract to sell the loose cannon gimmick.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I just kept drawing a blank on other match ideas. Finally thought up a few more though: James Storm vs Stan Hansen New Day (Kofi & Xavier) vs The Lucha Bros Jon Moxley (Current Day) in a deathmatch promoted by literally anyone but AEW

I blame Jericho in addition to the booking. Even in his prime, Jericho was never capable of the masochism required for a memorable barbed wire match. It's like he wants to be the new Terry Funk but doesn't get that Funk didn't so much change his style in the 90s as it was just an evolution of what he'd already been doing for years.

Don't forget the heel group of up-and-comers that all use retrowave stuff like Carpenter Brut and Scandroid.

I finally gave Love, Death & Robots a chance recently and instantly fell in love! It's got so many things I adore in one package: gorgeous animation, bloody violence, memorable sci-fi settings, cosmic horror and a pitch black sense of humor. I read it started as an adaptation of the magazine Heavy Metal and that influence is crystal clear. It's like a TV version of the 80s movie except not horrifically overrated.

I'll second (or, I guess third) the praise for the chains. I love the old All Asia Tag titles and they're the first thing I think of when I see chains on a belt.

I second this. There was a trainer at a seminar who explained it really well to me that you need to measure your experience in the number of matches you've worked, not years in the business. Back in the day you could, but back then most people worked somewhere around 200-300 matches a year. Jade could easily become as good as the booking treats her, but she needs to work so many more matches.

Hayabusa vs anyone from Dragon Gate Steve Williams vs WALTER Nigel McGuinness vs Davey Boy Smith Jeff Hardy circa 2001 vs Darby Allin And just for laughs: Tony Khan vs Nick Khan in a battle to decide the true Khan of Wrestling! Will Tony's dad be forced to pack it in and move the Jacksonville Jaguars to London? Will Vince ever learn that just having the name Khan doesn't make Tony and Nick related? Will I be able to think of a third question!? Find out next time on Wrestle Ball Z!