You do all realise the awards are voted for by subscribers?
So the subscribers all individually come to the same conclusion that Dave has been telling them all year. Remarkable. Next you'll be telling me sun readers vote tory.
You do all realise the awards are voted for by subscribers?
So the subscribers all individually come to the same conclusion that Dave has been telling them all year. Remarkable. Next you'll be telling me sun readers vote tory.
I only point it out because this thread has a weirdly irrational dislike for Meltzer. You can ignore him or not put much stock into what he says. My favourite match from Full Gear was MJF against Darby Allin but I’m not moaning about it not getting five stars - it doesn’t mean anything.
It's not a weirdly irrational dislike. Meltzer is a twit that has rabid fans within the wrestling community and people out there place far too much emphasis on what he says. He can come out and say Nia Jax Vs Charlotte Flair was match of the year and they'd be nodding sagely and agreeing with him.
I agree that MJF is the best heel since Vince McMahon. I can’t believe I’m saying something as bold as that, but he really is better than anything else since the Attitude era in terms of heel work.
Can you imagine if someone as good as him had been around 20 years ago to be the heel nemesis of The Rock?
WWE will surely throw the kitchen sink to get him in 2024 when his contract is up. And even then, he’ll still only be 26 years old.
The story with CM Punk is absolutely brilliant. That’s something that I don’t think is being made enough of as well - the fact that AEW are able to get Punk on every single week, without fail. They’ve done a great job with him.
They had Punk doing commentary some weeks which seemed a waste, glad he's in an angle now, and what an angle!
I like the slow builds in AEW; Wardlow turning on MJF, Omega V Cole. Makes a lot more sense than champion v champion with one of them champions dropping a strap for a month and not beating the new champion for it.
I wonder how I managed to sit through WWE every few days before AEW came along. I guess NXT was good enough to keep me committed and it’s not like there was a viable alternative.
WWE nowadays is literally a children’s show. I think they’ve taken a conscious decision to make it even more dumbed down in recent years just to completely differentiate themselves. I personally don’t understand why any adult what watch it over AEW if given the choice.
NXT during that period was undeniably great, but it does feel a little bit tainted by the fact that 80% of the talents they had on show ended up not going on to fully realise their potential on the main roster.
Its a shame that they couldn’t put it in a better arena on a weekly basis either.
If they’d managed to fix those things then I’m not sure the USP for a company like AEW to come about would have happened
Whilst Elimination Chamber was a big old bag of shit, it turns out the Brock Lesnar smashing through his pod wasn't planned, and the Perspex wasn't gimmicked in any way. Scary dude
NXT during that period was undeniably great, but it does feel a little bit tainted by the fact that 80% of the talents they had on show ended up not going on to fully realise their potential on the main roster.
Its a shame that they couldn’t put it in a better arena on a weekly basis either.
If they’d managed to fix those things then I’m not sure the USP for a company like AEW to come about would have happened
That's the "problem" though with what NXT was, it wasn't really developmental any more it was more like "HHH's King of the indies".
It was a wrestling program with highly trained professionals on it, who weren't allowed to do their own outlaw mud show ball shit. That was never going to translate to the main roster all the time Vince was alive.
It became it's own brand. It won the survivor series thing which means absolutely nothing. It's now going back to it's pre Kenta, Owens and Ballor signing developmental days which weren't anything particularly special.
24 hours after seeing it, I still can’t stop thinking about it. The layers and layers of thoughtful storytelling that is well beyond anything we’ve seen before in wrestling.
The little things that I picked up on the second time around watching it:
- The way he talks about how the athletic jock type kids at school would treat him. It plays perfectly into the explanation of how he treats Wardlow
- The backstory that lends itself to explain why MJF is who he is. The insecurities he demonstrates that are a result of his childhood. Everybody can relate to that in someone way, if not through themselves, but through someone they know
- The fact that there is a great degree of truth in the story. He did idolise CM Punk. He did explicitly make it clear as a child that he wanted to be just like him. How many angles have key seeds planted when one of the characters is a child?!
And the best bit of it all……We all know that somehow he is going to pull the rug from underneath everyone next week, and consolidate himself as the most evil, manipulative heel imaginable.
I’m begging they steal the show with the Dog Collar Match, because if they do then we could be looking back at this feud in years to come as one of the greatest of all time. I genuinely believe it has the credentials so far to put itself on the top tier.
For context: Bret was doing jobs on Georgia TV The Rock was still Rocky Miavia Stone Cold was a rookie in WCCW HBK had just put Janetty through the barber shop window Brock was the king of the ring and a 2 times WWE world Champion. Taker was still Mean Mark.
This fued has put enough hooks of truth in it to make you think. The old "I know the rest of its fake but these two really do hate each other" number. I could listen to these two talk to, or about, each other all day.
I remember when CM Punk returned and it’s true that whenever he would do interviews he would never refer to MJF when talking about the top young talent in the company.
He was about five steps ahead knowing this angle would come down the line and that it would be a next level blood feud
I remember when CM Punk returned and it’s true that whenever he would do interviews he would never refer to MJF when talking about the top young talent in the company.
He was about five steps ahead knowing this angle would come down the line and that it would be a next level blood feud
It's so obvious that, in both companies, that there are only a handful of people that are both allowed to do what they want AND know what to do.
It's also blinding obvious that they are in such a minority they stand out a mile.
If you want Austin and Vince on the card, for reasons, wouldn't it make much more sense to have Theory against someone with Vinny and SCSA in the corners or, if you really have to make it a tag match?
So, Tony Khan’s big announcement is that he has bought Ring of Honour.
Personally, I’ve never sat and watched an ROH show but obviously am aware that an absolute ton of names came through there before going to WWE/AEW/TNA/New Japan.
Last I heard, it was going on a hiatus and it simply wasn’t doing well business wise. Probably partially down to AEW’s rise.
Anyone more in the know about ROH able to give any reasoning as to why this is a big deal?
Ring Of Honor has always been known as the biggest of the "underground independents" and they will have a tonne of tape of old bouts from the likes of Samoa Joe, Brian Danielson, CM Punk, Kevin Steen, El Generico, Tyler Black, but also a lot tape covering Young Bucks, Hangman Page, reDRagon, Adam Cole and quite a few of their current roster too.
It's a move that will garner a lot of good will in the industry, and I'd imagine ROH will be rebooted as either a developmental for AEW, or as a second company that focuses more on technical wrestling, with the "Pure" match rules gimmick
Comments
Can you imagine if someone as good as him had been around 20 years ago to be the heel nemesis of The Rock?
WWE will surely throw the kitchen sink to get him in 2024 when his contract is up. And even then, he’ll still only be 26 years old.
The story with CM Punk is absolutely brilliant. That’s something that I don’t think is being made enough of as well - the fact that AEW are able to get Punk on every single week, without fail. They’ve done a great job with him.
WWE nowadays is literally a children’s show. I think they’ve taken a conscious decision to make it even more dumbed down in recent years just to completely differentiate themselves. I personally don’t understand why any adult what watch it over AEW if given the choice.
Its a shame that they couldn’t put it in a better arena on a weekly basis either.
It was a wrestling program with highly trained professionals on it, who weren't allowed to do their own outlaw mud show ball shit. That was never going to translate to the main roster all the time Vince was alive.
He’s an absolute genius of wrestling promos.
2015
The little things that I picked up on the second time around watching it:
- The way he talks about how the athletic jock type kids at school would treat him. It plays perfectly into the explanation of how he treats Wardlow
- The backstory that lends itself to explain why MJF is who he is. The insecurities he demonstrates that are a result of his childhood. Everybody can relate to that in someone way, if not through themselves, but through someone they know
- The fact that there is a great degree of truth in the story. He did idolise CM Punk. He did explicitly make it clear as a child that he wanted to be just like him. How many angles have key seeds planted when one of the characters is a child?!
For context:
Bret was doing jobs on Georgia TV
The Rock was still Rocky Miavia
Stone Cold was a rookie in WCCW
HBK had just put Janetty through the barber shop window
Brock was the king of the ring and a 2 times WWE world Champion.
Taker was still Mean Mark.
This fued has put enough hooks of truth in it to make you think. The old "I know the rest of its fake but these two really do hate each other" number. I could listen to these two talk to, or about, each other all day.
It's also blinding obvious that they are in such a minority they stand out a mile.
Vince is planning on having a match at mania!
He is 77 and hasn't been in a ring in a decade.
Personally, I’ve never sat and watched an ROH show but obviously am aware that an absolute ton of names came through there before going to WWE/AEW/TNA/New Japan.
Last I heard, it was going on a hiatus and it simply wasn’t doing well business wise. Probably partially down to AEW’s rise.
Anyone more in the know about ROH able to give any reasoning as to why this is a big deal?
His constant 'huge announcements' are losing their appeal to me as they never seem to be that big
I'm really looking forward to the match on Sunday, which proves to myself that I DO still like wrestling when it's done right.
I just don't like WWE
It's a move that will garner a lot of good will in the industry, and I'd imagine ROH will be rebooted as either a developmental for AEW, or as a second company that focuses more on technical wrestling, with the "Pure" match rules gimmick