The Ultimate WWE Thread

[phonics]

Where’s Kane to pull it off the hinges when you need him?

Got distracted shouting at Nia Jaxx for being trans

[Ian]

Saying something racist somewhere, probably.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1762661477104615761

Hmmm.

[wullie]

This is the thing people thought was going to be Okada isn't it? Proper upgrade.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Yep...

[Ben]

I thought Okada is pretty much confirmed for AEW now?

[phonics]

Virgils dead :(

[Ian]

At least he won't be lonely any more.

[Ben]

Dementia and colon cancer double whammy. Poor fella. Hell of a pop when he finally nailed DiBiase.

[Shindig]

And multiple strokes for good measure. At that point, the body wants death.

[Ben]

I'm making my AEW comeback at Revolution next weekend, there's no way I'm missing this:

Meat Madness Match
Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Wardlow vs. ??? vs. ???

:D

And I'm out again.

It's been changed to an "All-Star 8 Man Scramble" with Jericho in it. :facepalm: And there's two unnamed participants still. If that fucking cokehead debuts Okada in a shit fest like this he needs crucifying.

I will probably just watch Takeshita vs. Ospreay the next day and assume the rest of it is the steaming pile of shit it's lining up to be. Although the FTR match might be interesting, just to see how they cope with Moxley no-selling all their shit.

[Baz]

Spears :facepalm:

I’m out the loop with AEW but hoping this PPV is my gateway back in. I’m scared to even look at the card though.

[Ben]

To be fair it's on the whole a good card if you're not bothered about it being set up by spurious booking.

[Ben]

1763629198487453764

Rick :cool:

[Waffdon]

Definitely rehearsed that for a couple hours

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

21 minutes? Fuck that.

[Ben]

It’s good. He even goes after Cody’s dog. :D

[Shindig]

Not gonna lie, this is some good marketing.

[Pleb]

Thank fuck we're getting Heel Hollywood Rock out of this BUILDUP!

[igor_balis]

Cos it’s awesome. The view is better than you think, but I did spend the first few matches conditioning myself not to watch the screen.

Do you feel the same about football and other sports, where the ‘view from home’ is better so why bother?


Also if Ospreay or ZSJ or Session Moth might be on, you should deffo go revpro

I actually disagree with this. You can see far more live, especially if you're in decent seats. I understand why they do it, but footy broadcasts follow the ball so much that you can't really work out what's going on tactically. I fucking can't, anyway. I watch loads of games on tv, and often haven't really got much of a clue about what's going on, except for the obvious. Whereas I could bore you all to death with the minutae of West Brom's shape, tactics and strategy for our disastrous 2008/09 premier league season, and even some of the teams we played to an extent.

When we got battered by Utd, it was actually pretty mesmerizing seeing how they built attacks with wave after wave of pressure from Ronaldo, Berbatov and Tevez, in a way that you wouldn't quite see unless you were actually at the game.

It's a bigger problem for me watching NFL, cus I really haven't the foggiest about how formations and routes and stuff work, until they show the replays.

[Waffdon]

Rock/Reigns v Rollins/Rhodes night one.

Rollins is definitely eating the pin from gasman

[Ian]

100%. Don't think that whole segment needed to take up a third of the show but despite Rick talking in circles while he remembered his lines I did enjoy it, between all the bants and Reigns very clearly hating being outshone and all that. Plenty of good work going on in there.

My other highlight of the show was KO on comms for the main event.

"I untied his shoe!" :D

[Waffdon]

Yeah that was good.

Theory might be the new Ziggler. Freak athlete and seller. Turn him face so we can see his cool moveset. I think they’re going down that route anyway with Waller turning on him so should get a decent and deserved WM match for then

[Shindig]

Sting's retired with an undefeated record in AEW? Tony, you fucking mark. Naturally, Tony has to come out bawling because he can't just let the moment happen without him. :D

[Ben]

The alternative was letting the Bucks win in North Carolina. It would have made for a nice riot I suppose.

On the topic of North Carolina, what the fuck are they doing with FTR? Moxley has choked them out on TV for weeks so then they go and tap out on the PPV. Absolutely buried their best tag team in their home town. Bizarre shit and you can only think Moxley is giving it the "doesn't work for me brother" shit backstage these days because he never sells and wins all the time (and now I've typed that out, it absolutely makes sense him coming out in Road Warrior gear).

Clown of the night goes to Darby Allin. I think he's great but that was one of the dumbest spots I've ever seen.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GHzOj76XoAEjEUP?format=jpg

RIP lad.

[Ben]

Fans looking at their phones and/or not bothered about him. Guy killed himself for a two second pop then nobody cares. AEW's problem in a nutshell.

[phonics]

You people are so joyless. You'd be on here crying about how unsafe Taker throwing Mankind off the cell was if we were around then.

[Ben]

Well it was. No denying it was memorable but when you've got the man's wife and FUCKING TERRY FUNK pleading with him to not do it then maybe us miserable folk have a point.

[wullie]

Darby Allin's not seeing his 40th birthday is he? He's great at absolutely flinging himself around but he's got to be made enough now to not have to go that far.

[Ben]

On the topic of North Carolina, what the fuck are they doing with FTR?

Turns out Cash might be doing some porridge in the coming months. :D

[phonics]

Darby Allin's not seeing his 40th birthday is he? He's great at absolutely flinging himself around but he's got to be made enough now to not have to go that far.

It's not about money. He's just one of those mentalists. Tony gave him a week off and he was doing 40ft backflips off a ramp on a tricycle that was on fire. He's off to climb Everest now.

[SvN]

Glass has no place in wrestling. A completely moronic spot.

[SvN]

To add, the fact that the one guy was just stood there staring at him, waiting for his teammate to come and grab him - why couldn't he just move out of the way himself? It's not like he was lying prone like they usually are in these spots.

Then you get the fact that the glass went flying into the audience...

Whoever put that spot together is a retard.

[Ben]

Welcome to AEW. Now there's no Punk and MJF, it's just indie wrestling with a big budget.

[phonics]

Indie Wrestling is good.

[Waffdon]

That spot where Ospreay no sold a piledriver was grim followed by a kick out at 1 by the Jap. I don’t get it

[phonics]

Just realised that with the Sting win that the titles will have to be vacated :drool:

IT'S TOURNAMENT TIME BAY BAY

[Ben]

That spot where Ospreay no sold a piledriver was grim followed by a kick out at 1 by the Jap. I don’t get it

Blame Gargano and Adam Cole. That Chikara/PWG bollocks was confined to backyards before they brought it to NXT, which was still super hot off the back of Owens, Zayn, Balor, Nakamura etc. and it conned fans into thinking that style was hot stuff. Which at the time you could argue made for some great matches but it got vastly overplayed very quickly and now everyone watching wrestlers of that ilk knows they don't need to give a shit until the Stormbreaker/Hidden Blade super combo, by which point they've missed the audience's peak energy for the match because they've still got to get all their shit in.

[wullie]

It's not about money. He's just one of those mentalists. Tony gave him a week off and he was doing 40ft backflips off a ramp on a tricycle that was on fire. He's off to climb Everest now.

I remember him being properly chucked down some stairs in a minor thing that could easily have put him out a while with an ankle injury as well, I guess though without that side of him you wouldn't also get this absolute magic

https://64.media.tumblr.com/42d2ea0f41cf1cfe4a74d64a79431848/45fd1b2a80d61f06-83/s500x750/517d6827be13767f0b7e16c676d2d47a1ef44ef7.gifv

[Ben]

Great bump by Miro too. Got his hands up right at the last moment. That would have looked a lot more fake yet dangerous if it was one of the friends gang.

[phonics]

Going to assume Miro won that match as he's gone pure 'That doesn't work for me brother' now.

Shame as he was onto a good gimmick after binning the gamer stuff but now he can fuck right off.

[Ben]

Tony needs to cut at least 50% of his roster then maybe these guys will start working hard for their 500k per year instead of punching Sammy Guevara in the face and being paid to sit at home for two years.

[Gray Fox]

Tony tried signing up any reasonable name that WWE cut loose for ages and he seems to(to his credit really) hate releasing people unless conduct dictates he has to, so all of these people have to sit twiddling thumbs until their deals run out.

[wullie]

You really can tell he grew up watching 90s WCW.

[Ben]

Imagine how many times he would have feared for his life in THAT backstage area.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I'd have loved to see him try hugging one of the many roided up wrestlers.

[Ben]

He’d end up getting knifed for real by Tank Abbott.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Tank Abbott was in WCW?!?!?

I really liked him in the early UFC events.

[wullie]

Tank Abbott was arguably at his best as a member of Three Count. He just loves to have fun!

[Shindig]

AJ Styles was on the books by the time WCW closed.

[Ben]

Tank Abbott was in WCW?!?!?

I really liked him in the early UFC events.

Get yourself on YouTube and find the video where he pulls a knife on Big Al for a shoot. :D

[Baz]

That 8 man scramble match could have an entire episode of botchamania to itself

[Waffdon]

1764911920249774259


Wrestler of the year. Hater of the year. Heel of the year. Social media extraordinaire of the year

[Shindig]

Broo McIntyre

[phonics]

Welcome to AEW. Now there's no Punk and MJF, it's just indie wrestling with a big budget.

Having just seen the Rollins promo. I'll take Darby Allin swanton bombing a pile of bricks for a minor pop over 'Diarrhea Dwayne' all day.

[Waffdon]

You’re dissing Rollins to the wrong guy brother

[Ben]

:D

[Ben]

WWE giving away one of the greatest matches in history for free on YouTube. That crowd manipulation. :drool:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRg_vJvyMC8

[phonics]

Cornette getting mad at Darby Allin for performing a stunt correctly while he can't walk because he dropped himself off a ladder like a fucking dingus. Perfect.

[Ben]

What? Getting up and walking away isn't in any way a justification of what you just did. It was absolutely moronic and plenty of folk a lot "friendlier" to the AEW core have said as much.

[phonics]

What? Getting up and walking away isn't in any way a justification of what you just did. It was absolutely moronic and plenty of folk a lot "friendlier" to the AEW core have said as much.


Darby Allin is pretty much a professional stunt man. They also rehearsed the move, made sure if it did go wrong doctors were on hand and planned a different finish if anything happened.

Meanwhile Cornette:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9BKScsdglA

[Ben]

They also rehearsed the move, made sure if it did go wrong doctors were on hand and planned a different finish if anything happened.

Do you not realise how ridiculous that sounds? I know you're resistant to any AEW criticism but come on, have a think. Replace AEW with WWE then replace Darby Allin with Santos Escobar or whatever, then form a new opinion.

[Ben]

And Cornette doing his knee on the scaffold isn't quite the gotcha you think it is when you've got Adam Cole derailing six months of booking by carelessly jumping off the ramp on a run in.

[phonics]

1) It's funny to have to be the AEW guy here because I'm the one in my friend group that gets called the AEW hater.
2) If you replace the person with someone less talented/willing it changes things. There are such things as professional stunt men.
3) Adam Cole sucks, has always been terrible and is up there with Gargano in over-rated talent purely because WWE destroyed the business to monopolise it.
4) The only reason that Devil nonsense was allowed to carry on so long is because Tony is as big a Black and Gold NXT guy as Mahow and co.

[phonics]

I’m trying to get to the fundamental flaw in our thinking and I’m starting to land on this. I like watching pro wrestling. The stuff outside of it can either decrease my interest or elevate it but my enjoyment is based on what happens inside it.

[Ben]

1) That's a hell of a rabbit hole your mates are down.
2) It doesn't change anything in my opinion. I think Darby is really good so I'd rather one of AEW's better wrestlers didn't take himself out permanently with some dumb shit. Even with the best of them, the law of averages comes into play eventually.
3) Glad we agree.
4) Ditto.

[phonics]

1) That's a hell of a rabbit hole your mates are down.


It's the advantage of knowing WWE was largely terrible since 2001. As a massive CM Punk hater, his fall was so satisfying to watch the realisation that hes just a prick that cant even wrestle without something exploding

on 2) As I said above, he was given a week off and did a 40 foot ramp on a trycicle on fire and next month he's climbing everest. If he wasn't wrestling he'd be doing something else dumb so why care?

[Gray Fox]

Is Darby Allin not just Jeff Hardy but for 2024?

[phonics]

Is Darby Allin not just Jeff Hardy but for 2024?
Darby turns up sober.

[Shindig]

Yeah, I'm sure he won't get hooked on painkillers.

[phonics]

Wrestling is a carny industry for weirdos. I'm not sure why I should boo a guy for possibly doing something that Kurt Angle and Stone Cold did years from now.

[Ben]

It's the advantage of knowing WWE was largely terrible since 2001.

You've just encapsulated the problem in a nutshell. You don't have to be down the AEW rabbit hole to recognise something like this. The AEW diehards have convinced themselves it's an us vs. them thing. Anyone daring to criticise AEW must be a WWE shill. Tribalism nonsense. You say you're labelled the AEW hater in your group but really you just recognised stuff like the Devil for what it is. If your mates were rational they'd agree, but the rabbit hole has provided a huge set of blinkers.

[phonics]

No but see there’s the issue with also your side here. Every AEW match on a random Wednesday is better than 99% of WWE matches. Because the guy in charge likes wrestling. Outside of it I have issues. But that’s exactly why I’m not going to cry about Darby Allin doing a cool spot. The week to week wrestling is very high tier so the PPVs have to be better than that. Meanwhile WWE spend as much time as they can not actually wrestling. I want to watch cool shit once a week. Not Eastenders with topless buff men.

[Ben]

I'll take your point that AEW TV matches are usually better than WWE TV matches. WWE formula is crap, with the matches having the least focus on the show (ten minute entrances, then a commercial break as soon as the match starts). Commercial breaks destroy AEW too but at least they break the mould and even have at least one match a week I can get on baord with. They're not better 99% of the time though, because flips and no-sells aren't good wrestling in my book.

This week is a bit of an oddity too. Raw was unusually decent in the ring (Gunther match, Judgment Day tag) and Dynamite's matches last night looked like a car wreck (I like Ospreay but I'm not wasting my time on his match with Fletcher because I know exactly what it would have descended into), with the highlights seemingly an opening promo, Bucks/Okada angle, Danielson/Ospreay face off. Classic WWE actually.

[phonics]

ICommercial breaks destroy AEW too but at least they break the mould and even have at least one match a week I can get on baord.

I’ve been railing against this from the beginning. Absolutely infuriating. Is bad producing.

[phonics]

Also at the end of the day shit like this makes me laugh because I know the person in charge is a slightly autistic amateur weirdo and not a psychopath who shits on women and covers up murders in his spare time. It's easier to enjoy in that sense.

1765549266334777642

[Waffdon]

Mate, go join an AEW forum you fucking flange

[Ben]

Also at the end of the day shit like this makes me laugh because I know the person in charge is a slightly autistic amateur weirdo

That's why the e-fed crew call AEW "we" isn't it, because they think Tony is making all their forum booking become reality. The problem is, a lot of it is shit and that's why they're holed up in basements and not out there making bank. Tony would last two minutes if he tried to run an actual wrestling company rather than just booking dream matches with dad's inheritance.

[phonics]

That's why the e-fed crew call AEW "we" isn't it, because they think Tony is making all their forum booking become reality. The problem is, a lot of it is shit and that's why they're holed up in basements and not out there making bank. Tony would last two minutes if he tried to run an actual wrestling company rather than just booking dream matches with dad's inheritance.

Look, you can accuse Vince McMahon of covering up murders, sex trafficking, rape, and various other misdemeanours but you can never accuse him of *checks notes* using his fathers money to buy up other territories....

[phonics]

Also as a nice cherry on top for the whole discussion, it seems that Darby turned up on AEW last night and said 'I'm off to climb Everest, I might die so cya later'

[Ben]

Look, you can accuse Vince McMahon of covering up murders, sex trafficking, rape, and various other misdemeanours but you can never accuse him of *checks notes* using his fathers money to buy up other territories....

Why do you keep circling back to Vince? Just because I criticise AEW, doesn't mean I think WWE/Vince can do no wrong. Like everything these days, you're seemingly expected to pick a side in every discussion and I don't get it.

[phonics]

Why do you keep circling back to Vince? Just because I criticise AEW, doesn't mean I think WWE/Vince can do no wrong. Like everything these days, you're seemingly expected to pick a side in every discussion and I don't get it.
Only happens to you I swear.


Mate, go join an AEW forum you fucking flange

I just don't see how where the money comes from matters.

[wullie]

Bossman is meant to catch Cornette there right?

[Ben]

Definitely. But Darby Allin would have bounced back up onto the scaffold.

Darby > Cornette

[wullie]

Is he actually climbing Everest for real and it's not just a story to be off TV a little bit to recover from getting a battering? He's one of those that does so much mad stuff he'll somehow die of natural causes in his sleep age 100.

[Waffdon]

1765719664829538387


:lol:

I feel dirty for laughing at Dave Meltzer

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1765719664829538387


:lol:

I feel dirty for laughing at Dave Meltzer

1765719664829538387

Tweet not Twitter tags, mongo.

And that is brilliant.

[Waffdon]

Sasha Banks openly admitting she will go back to WWE one day is hilarious. Getting that bag off Tony and fucking back off home. :lol:

[Ben]

This WM build is getting really, really good. The production levels are insane since TKO took over from Kevin Dunn.

[Gray Fox]

Rick being completely out of breath just cutting Cody off is lol.

Interesting they still have the bloodline presenting the united front but the Rick still as a separate thing.

[Shindig]

Makes sense if Rick's just going to bounce after Wrestlemania.

[Waffdon]

This WM build is getting really, really good. The production levels are insane since TKO took over from Kevin Dunn.

Only going to get better with Netflix.

Rhodes winning is going to hit like crack

[Gray Fox]

What about when Roman wins so we can do Roman v Rick at Summerslam instead?

[Waffdon]

I could be wrong but I swear they said Rhodes would never be able to go for a title again if he loses and that’s never gonna happen

[Baz]

Has he really done that again? :cab:

[Waffdon]

I might have picked it up wrong but Rick was going on about how he’s a director of the company and that he won’t allow Rhodes anymore chances if he fails at Wrestlemania

[Shindig]

Vince RickMahon.

[Ian]

Wasn't it a shot specifically against Roman they said Cody wouldn't get again?

[Ben]

The number one rule in wrestling is that if a babyface is going to win the title he will say it in no uncertain terms (“I will win” / “I promise you [the fans] that I will be champion”). They never say it and then lose. Cody never said it last year and I don’t think he has up to now. I’m waiting for it and until he does I’m not 100% convinced he will win the title.

[Waffdon]

He’s winning and it’ll be down to don Cena ala Austin when mankind win his title

[Gray Fox]

The number one rule in wrestling is that if a babyface is going to win the title he will say it in no uncertain terms (“I will win” / “I promise you [the fans] that I will be champion”). They never say it and then lose. Cody never said it last year and I don’t think he has up to now. I’m waiting for it and until he does I’m not 100% convinced he will win the title.

He done said the thing.

[Ben]

Here we go. :cool:

[Waffdon]

Why do they keep getting my hopes up with Chad Gable

[Ian]

Zayn vs Gunther will be tremendous. And as it stands I've no idea who's winning it. Gunther is either holding the IC until Germany or winning a world title there, right?

[Ben]

Zayn hasn’t been built up enough to be champion.

Also a six team ladder match for the tag titles. What a fucking non entity.

Also also Drew is awesome again but is he really the heel in this? He comes out spitting truths, meanwhile his opponent comes out in OTT costumes sucking himself off and slagging off the rest of the roster. Drew wins or we riot.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Candice LeRae taking major HEAT on Twitter for this:

1767354802457936346

Don't get why people are SEETHING but Maxxine really should have slapped her rather than just leave crying.

[Ian]

Very obviously a work using the house show incident to get some fans behind Maxxine.

[Ben]

She’s more boring than her husband.

[wullie]

Her brother isn't dead, he just changed his name.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1767600828888633599

Such a joke.

[Waffdon]

At this point it really should just be The Rick v Cody Rhodes. Reigns is just an afterthought. He does nothing

[Ben]

Hollywood theme made a comeback last night. :cool:

His theme is slowly changing every week. Hopefully the final one at Mania is full on Hollywood theme with an actual helicopter.

[Ian]

Rare Kate Middleton reference on Smackdown last night as Barrett says "Pretty Deadly are the official tag team of Buckingham Palace and are so pretty they don't need to edit their instagram pictures" :D

[Gray Fox]

No Everest for Darby Allin. He's broken his foot jumping off something at someone.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I'm shocked, he takes such good care of himself.

[Shindig]

He gets enough practice. And I didn't like The Rock last night. Maybe it's a Memphis thing but he was face as fuck.

[Ian]

I thought he was leaning a bit face early in the promo but I think that was to set the fans up for when he then started being a shitbag toward the end.

[Ben]

He's so iconic that the crowd will turn him babyface again very soon. I think they're going the route of having Roman do the sympathetic babyface turn and Rick as the massive ego heel but the crowd won't allow so they'll have to pivot (again).

It's exactly like when Hogan came back in 2002. There's not enough shenanigans in the world to get a WWE crowd to boo him for any sustained period.

[Waffdon]

He’d get booed at your mark cities but not places like Memphis. He should have just talked shit about Memphis like he did with Sacramento.

[wullie]

I guess the whole thing ends with Roman fucking him up after losing to Cody to set up their match for next year or Saudi Arabia or whatever it is, then Cody saves him and they share some tequila and energy drink before pointing to the big Moana 2 sign.

[Gray Fox]

I'd book that there's infighting during the match about who gets to make the pin, eventually leading to Rick pinning Rollins. Then on night 2, Rick declares it a no DQ match or something similar, but we get all of Codys allies coming to help. Eventually it leaves just Rick and Roman and Cody in the ring. Rick eventually goes too far for Roman, who spears him and throws him out, but this allows Cody to hit his terrible finisher(or 4 on the run).

From there you get Rick v Roman at SummerSlam.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Would Roman really work a few months later after working on two consecutive nights?

[Ben]

I'd book that there's infighting during the match about who gets to make the pin, eventually leading to Rick pinning Rollins. Then on night 2, Rick declares it a no DQ match or something similar, but we get all of Codys allies coming to help. Eventually it leaves just Rick and Roman and Cody in the ring. Rick eventually goes too far for Roman, who spears him and throws him out, but this allows Cody to hit his terrible finisher(or 4 on the run).

From there you get Rick v Roman at SummerSlam.

Seems a likely road to go down but overbooking the shit out of the main event on Night 2 could massively degrade Cody's win. In my opinion.

Your top babyface needs to win CLEAN when he finally conquers all.

[Gray Fox]

Rick flubbing his lines when they're literally written in front of him for this one was entertaining.

[Ben]

Not saying Rick is the guy to let loose on it (Punk), but I hope now Vince is gone they allow certain guys to regain the art of totally ad libbing promos. There definitely seems a bit more leeway already, but the overproduction is still glaring. It’ll probably never happen though and Punk is about as close as we’ll ever get.

[Ian]

Rick flubbing his lines when they're literally written in front of him for this one was entertaining.

He's done a lot of that and talking in circles while he remembers what he's doing but when it works it works.


Seems a likely road to go down but overbooking the shit out of the main event on Night 2 could massively degrade Cody's win. In my opinion.

Your top babyface needs to win CLEAN when he finally conquers all.

Fully agree, and I think what they'll do is actually have all the shenanigans happen 5 or so minutes before the finish. Whether it's Cody's Avengers or whatever I think we'll see Reigns left all on his own with Cody and then they'll have Cody ultimately win clean as a whistle. Assuming he wins....

Meant to say regarding Smackdown that I'm really enjoying Aldis as Smackdown GM. He was a lot of fun with Paul last night.

[phonics]

That KO stunner into RKO spot from Austin Theory should have been booed out of the building.

[Ben]

I don’t think Cody can have any interference on his behalf. Heel interference is fair enough but when a babyface is getting it, whatever the circumstances, it makes them look weak.

Classic example, Mankind’s first title win. Yes it was a great moment but the pop was more for Austin screwing Vince than Mick Foley who never gained anything more long term because he was the babyface who needed a shit load of help to get over the line. Tony Schiavone had a point when he lolled it off live on air, he just massively misjudged the room at the time, in that Austin was still the guy so nice moments for others like Mankind could be afforded. Cody however, will be expected to carry WWE post-Mania, so you’ve got to have him overcome the odds on his own.

[Ian]

To that point Ben I wouldn't have any of Cody's mates lay a hand on Roman. Or get into the ring. Just storm ringside and deal with the Bloodline when they start looking to intervene.


That KO stunner into RKO spot from Austin Theory should have been booed out of the building.

Yeah it looked really dumb.

[Waffdon]

He obviously botched it but Theory is definitely in the top 1% for selling. Just make him face ffs

[Gray Fox]

Unfortunately for Theory, he is getting to that role of comedy character which in WWE, there's just no escaping. I can't recall any talent falling into a comedy character gimmick and then every getting back to the top in a serious way. Look at Chad Gable. No matter how good he is, they just will not pull the trigger. I'm sure he'll be shooshing people or being released in a few months time.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Unfortunately for Theory, he is getting to that role of comedy character which in WWE, there's just no escaping. I can't recall any talent falling into a comedy character gimmick and then every getting back to the top in a serious way. Look at Chad Gable. No matter how good he is, they just will not pull the trigger. I'm sure he'll be shooshing people or being released in a few months time.

Drew with 3MB?

I don't know if it was comedy enough as I wasn't watching back then.

[phonics]

I mean him being the definition of mediocre at everything is probably the bigger issue than his booking.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Plain wrong yet again.

[phonics]

I didn't say bad. He just does absolutely nothing higher than okay. He's boring.

[Waffdon]

Unfortunately for Theory, he is getting to that role of comedy character which in WWE, there's just no escaping. I can't recall any talent falling into a comedy character gimmick and then every getting back to the top in a serious way. Look at Chad Gable. No matter how good he is, they just will not pull the trigger. I'm sure he'll be shooshing people or being released in a few months time.

He’s barely even 25. He’ll be fine

[phonics]

A seperate complaint that I noticed on Smackdown but AEW is probably worse on.

When did Wrestler Themes become so bad. Like I can not tell a single person apart.

[Ian]

Unfortunately for Theory, he is getting to that role of comedy character which in WWE, there's just no escaping. I can't recall any talent falling into a comedy character gimmick and then every getting back to the top in a serious way. Look at Chad Gable. No matter how good he is, they just will not pull the trigger. I'm sure he'll be shooshing people or being released in a few months time.

This was the case under Vince, I'd say it's at least TBC for HHH and he clearly likes Theory.

There's definitely something there with Theory but I'm not sure he's had a properly good main roster match against anybody who wasn't just obviously better and more experienced than him.

The Cena match was a real indictment of where he's at though and it didn't help that because Cena knew he was losing he was desperate to bury him at every turn before the match itself rather than doing anything to try and help him out.

I've no idea what his ceiling is. It's probably lower than whatever Vince thought it was but there's still plenty of time to salvage his current predicament. Doesn't help pairing him with Waller, who's basically the Aw Mate Miz.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

A seperate complaint that I noticed on Smackdown but AEW is probably worse on.

When did Wrestler Themes become so bad. Like I can not tell a single person apart.

No idea about AEW but WWE falling out with CFO$ seemed to kill themes.

They weren't always good under CFO$ but at least they seemed to have something about each theme and they were distinct.

[Ian]

CFOdollar weren't consistently good but they had some bangers.

Their Asuka theme is an all-timer.

[Ben]

There’s just a lack of creativity. Years ago they’d just licence a known song, or have someone like Jim Johnston tailor a theme towards the gimmick.

Nowadays you’ve just got nerds churning out loads of shit in advance then they slap the first one out of the box on whichever wrestler needs a new theme.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Soon it will all be AI generated.

[Ben]

That will potentially improve things. TKO have been improving a lot of things already so hopefully that results in a bit more creativity or willingness to licence actual songs.

AEW’s generic themes are the worst but at least Tony is a mark for getting some good music now and again if he liked a wrestler on the indies years ago (Roddy’s End of Heartache :cool:).

[Shindig]

Legally distinct WCW themes should make a comeback.

[Gray Fox]

I was going to praise Tony for paying up on good themes, but then I heard Sasha Banks music.

[Shindig]

I think you mean Mercedes Money. Or Candice Cash. Or Wendy Wonga.

[Ben]

Hang on, when did Owens find his way into the US title match? Did Randy just say he’s not jobbing to that annoying cunt? :D

[Waffdon]

Logan Paul has been feuding with them both simultaneously so it was always going to happen

If you believe the Twitter people, they claim Orton requested to work with Paul so you’d assume jobbing wouldn’t be an issue. It’s a shame it’s been made into a triple threat as they’re rarely good. Be an interesting dynamic with two faces though.

[Ben]

That was kind of my point but I wanted to put a different spin on it rather than just bitching about triple threats again. :D

[Waffdon]

I still don’t have a clue what Stratton and Bianca are up to. As good as the Rick stuff has been, it’s ruined a few people’s feuds/story build up to Wrestlemania as 2 hours isn’t enough. Raw folk are alright as there’s plenty time on that as no Bloodline shenanigans.

[Ian]

Yeah Rick taking up a third of Smackdown in the Mania build isn't ideal for the other stuff, last couple of weeks you can just see which matches would and should have had a few extra minutes.

[Ben]

Agree it’s not great foresight to have a two hour show dedicated to Rick and a three hour show constantly stalling for time because it’s impossible to book that length on a weekly basis. They should have done a mass migration around Rumble time to even it out.

[Baz]

Meanwhile in AEW I hoped Okada and Ospreay would make up for a lack of MJF and Kenny Omega, but it just doesn’t. :(

[Ben]

At the risk of incurring phonics' wrath, I'll tell you why I think they don't fill the void.

THE BOOKING.

Ospreay debuted first and immediately was thrown into a match with his fucking stablemate Takeshita. Makes absolutely no sense. Callis is saying he wants to give the audience "the best match possible" but what fucking heel ever has ever said anything like that? Heels want to win by any means and that is that. So the match is pointless. Yeah it was nice but so what, they might have just done it at the local indie considering the lack of story. So Tony pigeon-holed Ospreay in the heel stable but realises he needs to be a face. The crowd want to get behind him but aren't really sure if they should. If Tony really wanted to burn that Takeshita match straight away, why didn't he have Ospreay get beat down at the end to really cement a face turn? But God forbid this clown knows how to get his heels any sort of heat.

And Okada, oh my God what a fuck up already. He's come in as the supposed best in the world but to a lot of Americans watching on prime time television, probably don't really know who he is, so all this wink-wink-nod-nod referencing with the Bucks goes straight over their heads. Excalibur (lol) has been saying how Okada is incredible and the best there is blah blah blah, but the booking has presented him in goofy backstage segments with the Bucks and a couple of undercard six-man tags. If you want the crowd to believe he's the best, have him come in and destroy a top babyface in his first segment. They've fucked it already, to the casual fan he's just that Japanese guy standing behind Matt Jackson doing shit acting.

[Waffdon]

Ospreay already fucked off home for a break, didn’t he? What a life

[Ben]

To be fair, he pretty much flat out said he signed with AEW over WWE because Tony will let him fuck off home for long periods. :D

Worked a treat with PAC.

[Waffdon]

The creeds in that ladder match would have been insane.

Sadge

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

They were scared they'd do a Brutus Bomb from the top of a ladder.

[Waffdon]

The ripped one would have done Shelton Benjamin esque madness. Hope they get on the pre show or something at least

[wullie]

I saw Alpha Academy lost their qualifying thing but it wasn't Gable so hopefully there are plans for him to do something as well.

[Waffdon]

From the YouTube and Twitter clips I’ve seen from Raw, the production really is looking magnificent. So many small
Improvements

[Ben]

Yeah it's pretty exceptional.

[Ian]

I saw Alpha Academy lost their qualifying thing but it wasn't Gable so hopefully there are plans for him to do something as well.

They're going to put him into Gunther / Zayn just for Ben.

[Ben]

:D

[Waffdon]

This smackdown has been a very easy watch. I normally just watch YouTube and Twitter clips but fuck me they’ve come a long way. So many little touches that make such a difference

[Ben]

Loved the vignette for Breakker with all the NFL combine like stats. The sports feel is great and they’re going to push this guy hard post-Mania.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Helps that he has the best spear going too.

Proper Goldberg when he was good vibes about it. Just tries to cut everyone clean in half as fast as possible.

[phonics]

Bill Goldberg was never good [/Bret]

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

His spears were.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1771756673771720705

I can't believe I'm saying this but I am jealous of Nia Jax.

[randomlegend]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Unexpected/comments/1bmnndj/another_example_wrestling_is_not_fake/

Apologies for it being a Reddit link (or if it's been posted before, I don't keep up with this thread), I tried downloading it and uploading it to youtube but it automatically gets turned into a short which I can't embed.

But anyway, :D

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The infinity stunner :drool:

[Shindig]

That's some chikara shit. :D

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1771701432485351471

1770413041009426866

SGW! SGW! SGW! :drool:

[Ben]

That Ugandan guy sold more in that clip than you see in a whole episode of Dynamite.

The "BUMBASH" poster in the background. :D

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

That Ugandan guy sold more in that clip than you see in a whole episode of Dynamite.

The "BUMBASH" poster in the background. :D

Still kicked out though.

Even SGW needs 10 finishers in a big time match to end it.

[Waffdon]

1771756673771720705

I can't believe I'm saying this but I am jealous of Nia Jax.

Don’t look at her last tweet or you’ll be barking the house down

[Ben]

Horny fans are usually cringe as fuck but for Rhea, I am one of them.

I think I'll blow my load in her match against Becky at Mania.

[Baz]

What are the matches involving the rock / Cody / Roman reigns then? And what night(s)?

[Ian]

Night 1 is Reigns and Rock vs. Rollins and Cody. If Bloodline win it's "Bloodline rules" (no DQ) on might 2, so Rollins will be taking the pin there.

Night 2 Cody vs. Reigns for the belt.

[Shindig]

Just to balance out (overcorrect) for the Rhea filth, here's a picture of Missy Hyatt with Terri Runnels. It's spoilered for a reason.

https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article32404859.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200e/0_KMP_CHP_210324Slug_5514.jpg

[igor_balis]

I know the lapsed fan podcast is something of an acquired taste, and even I was getting a bit sick of the co-chairmen recently, but their recent Virgil double header is absolutely fantastic. First part mostly chronicles the time host jack conspired with other host JP's father to book big Virge for JP's bachelor party, and other guests from the party sharing their memories of a truly insane evening, and part two is Jack's usual meticulous research on the life and times of the guy. It includes a particularly juicy revelation about Virgil's early life, that surprisingly doesn't seem to have been picked up by any of the dirt sheets. basically seems like Virgil's obfuscation of his real age was in part to hide the fact he ended up getting a length jail sentence for heroin trafficking

Highly recommend both episodes. Maybe just be prepared to fast forward some of the bantz, it can get a bit much.

[Waffdon]

Thought I was watching AEW with that Ricochet/JD match. Give them a PPV match, they’re both fun as fuck.

[Waffdon]

McIntyre, Punk and Rollins is tv gold

[SvN]

I'm sure the nerds in here will find a way to hate it, but that final segment with The Rock battering Cody in the rain was pure entertainment.

[Ben]

Well Raw was hype as fuck wasn’t it.

Drew again :cool:

[Ben]

Rollins is turning heel. Probably after Mania when he loses, but he's turning.

And speaking of the better Rollins:

1772452997601120396

[Waffdon]

So many good segments.

Reigns is utterly useless. Rick is selling this far better than he has and ever could.

Genuinely cannot wait for the clusterfuck finish. Something that I would normally hate but this is an exception. Cena putting Solo through the tables. Yes pls

[Ben]

I'm just about finished watching the whole episode in its entirety. First time I've done that in about 10 years. Possibly the best episode in 20+.

[Waffdon]

I hope they’ve not blown their load and the go home show is even better.

Rick is going to take up about 75% of smackdowns go home show. They’ll need to make is add free to get anyone some airtime

[Ben]

The actual wrestling matches can sometimes get in the way of the TV show for WWE at the moment, but still, as I said it was an all-time episode. The hype for WrestleMania is off the charts.

Cody starts the show and again referenced "keeping his promise" which is to win the title. Babyfaces don't do that if they aren't winning so we're definitely on baby. A little dig at Rick and then here he comes! That Hollywood theme is so good and even though he did fuck all, it was a complete surprise and the whole thing is so over that they can get away with it here.

Ricochet and JD, the large-headed guy from JD, had a really nice match. The camera work these days in outstanding. It's amazing how much better TV matches are when they don't have to play to the hard camera all the time. That "steady cam" or whatever at ringside is magic.

There's not a lot of downside to Triple H's booking at the moment but Judgment Day is possibly one of them. Ripley is over like Rover, Dom is such a great shithead heel, Priest is a boss, but the actual faction is crap now with all these shit backstage segments.

Two girls had a match. Shit but short.

Then we get Punk. What a fucking segment. He's so good on the mic, then Drew comes out and he's just hitting zingers all over the place, what a guy. My reaction to Rollins coming out was the same as Punk's but give him credit, when he's serious on the mic he's good. Looks like we are getting Punk on commentary which will be classic stuff. Segment finishes with Rollins superkicking Drew; crowd loved it but it was a cheap shot and a hint at a future heel turn I reckon. Clearly these top guys are now being trusted to not have all their promos fully scripted and it's showing.

I generally hate comedy because it's usually done bad and finds its way too high up the card but R-Truth is incredible at it. Nice little Easter egg of Drew and Heyman chatting in the background to further Drew's hypocrite gimmick. He's going to get involved on the Bloodline's side at Mania then.

In my determination to watch the whole episode without skipping, I was subjected to both New Day and DIY in the same match. I like Ciampa but he can't keep my loathing at bay here. Thankfully Judgment Day come down to end it early in a good ol' sports entertainment finish. Give Awesome Truth the titles.

Hey, a wild Andrade appears! I don't know what to think with him. The guy looks great and can clearly wrestle (having Vinci bump around for him was a good choice) but I doubt I'll ever be able to get behind him in a hot storyline.

Rhea and Becky promos were pretty average. I am disappoint. However, the Becky punch on Dom was tremendous and the title match will be amazing. Becky did well to get cheers with Rhea standing opposite her but fuck knows how either of them get a boo out of Philadelphia.

There were a few bits through the show to promote Gunther getting in Zayn's head and Reed thusly won their match but let's face it, Sami has no heat anymore and although the match at Mania will be good, the story is flat. Shame.

Jey Uso vs. Nakamura in the main event. Jey is a fucking bad wrestler and Nakamura is a jobber now. Hoping for shenanigans to get me through. And oh boy do we. Chaos all over with Cody, Seth and the Bloodline. Here's Drew to pay off the Heyman bit earlier. Then we get some iconic shit with Rick beating the piss out of Cody in the rain. A strategically placed production truck highlights Cena and Austin. The Cody-Reigns match is going to have so much interference and normally I'd hate that but this story is so hot and so packed with stars that I think I'll love every second. The visual of Cody getting juice with the blonde hair and the rain was perfect. Blood is such an elevator when used correctly (Moxley take note).

Pretty great episode all around. We're nearly at Mania and it's all starting to peak at the right time. I had my doubts they'd keep the momentum going post-Elimination Chamber but they're just stepping it up every week with the big matches, which is really what we're here for. Night 2 is stacked as fuck.

[Ben]

Having said that, there's three more shows left until Mania. Surely they've got to tease something massive between Rick and Reigns. No way do they put all this effort into such a great story and have Reigns going into it looking like an absolute whopper. Reigns doesn't get aggressive with his adversaries so it wouldn't have made much sense to have him give Cody that beatdown, so surely they've got to have him stand up and make Final Boss Rick second guess himself. At the moment it feels like the title match will be shenanigans with Rick and Cena and Austin and Seth and fucking Ultimate Warrior or whatever, with Reigns being a total non-entity until Cody gets the three count on him. Triple H won't let it end like that surely. He's not let me down on this so far, so I'll not be a Negative Nigel in anticipation.

Oh and by the way, when Triple H finally confronts Rick live in the arena the roof will come off.

[phonics]

At the moment it feels like the title match will be shenanigans with Rick and Cena and Austin and Seth and fucking Ultimate Warrior or whatever,

https://i.imgur.com/DSiK9Rp.png

[Ben]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9sQWZZ29Pg

[phonics]

What a belter. That and Takamichinokus themes live in my head 24/7.

[Gray Fox]

I'm liking this steady move away from PG. I hope it's here to stay.

Funny how two companies have both been affected by a CM Punk injury.

For one it sent them into a spiral that they haven't fully come out of. For the other it might be perhaps the best thing that could have happened.

[Ben]

For one it sent them into a spiral that they haven't fully come out of.

Punk (along with many others) was more of a symptom, not a cause. A disruptive symptom yes, but the problems were there long before he arrived.

It started as All Friends Wrestling financed by a money mark (which is fine), but as soon as Tony got in bed with WBD he had to pivot in order to reach the next level that the TV company demanded. The likes of Punk were needed but the Friends didn't like it (again, fine) and it's plain as day that the backstage is just a complete clusterfuck of nobody knowing what they're meant to be doing until 30 minutes before the shows. Then Tony goes and signs Okada to $4.5m/year and immediately pairs him with the proven ratings death that is the Young Bucks. He might as well just set that money on fire.

The spiral is all Tony Khan's fault. He's not a booker, he makes cool matches. Of course it's fine for AEW to not want to be WWE v2 but you look at Raw last night and see all the anticipation it's built, Tony couldn't dream of being able to do anything that hot. The sooner he realises and signs someone with experience to run things, then it won't turn around. He can't even go back to just Friends because he's made them look absolutely worthless on TV for at least two years now.

[Gray Fox]

I am sensing Ben may not be the biggest fan of AEW.

[Ben]

Not many people are these days. :eyemouth:

[phonics]

https://wrestlingheadlines.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/AEW-25.jpeg

Failing.

[Waffdon]

That’s a fake number though.

And they barely fill out 40% of the stadiums they go to. They’ve definitely missed their chance now

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

On weekly shows it looks like they'd have trouble filling out a high school gym at times.

[phonics]

You people are fucking weirdos about this. It's a successful promotion.

[Shindig]

Yeah, it's a solid 2nd. They have a great talent pool and the weekly in-ring stuff is worth watching/attending. They're not at WCW size (and might never get there) but they book those venues because they can get away with it, presumably.

[Waffdon]

You people are fucking weirdos about this. It's a successful promotion.

As it should be paying Sasha Banks £6m a year :lol:

[phonics]

Yeah, it's a solid 2nd. They have a great talent pool and the weekly in-ring stuff is worth watching/attending. They're not at WCW size (and might never get there) but they book those venues because they can get away with it, presumably.

WCW a company that never made a literal penny. But Eric Biscoff should tell Tony what to do.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GJnqCT8WoAAhKQW.jpg

[phonics]

As it should be paying Sasha Banks £6m a year :lol:

WHO GIVES A FUCK WHAT PEOPLE GET PAID. Are you there crying with joy that good people in WWE are paid dogshit. UFC just got sued for stealing money from their fighters and WWE are paying their staff half that. People who are on the WWE/AEW war are absolute fucking weirdos.

[Waffdon]

:lol:

[Ben]

You people are fucking weirdos about this. It's a successful promotion.

Successful despite itself.

Take the two most popular guys right now: Samoa Joe and Swerve Strickland.

Samoa Joe is booked like a heel but gets cheered like fuck by every crowd, except when he's against Swerve Strickland, who is undoubtedly the most popular guy at the moment, but he's also booked as a heel. So Tony put them in a triple threat with one of his top babyfaces, Hangman Page. Who then got soundly booed into turning.

While we're here let's look at their third most popular guy, Will Ospreay. Crowds chanting for him already yet he's still part of the silly heel stable and despite booking two matches to give them a quick face turn, he ends said matches by hugging the heel and saying how he respects them.

Like what the fuck is going on here? The talent is there but Tony just has no clue what he's doing here. Lots of potential fanbase growth being squandered by this nonsensical stuff.

[Ben]

WCW a company that never made a literal penny.

No way have AEW had a profitable year yet (lost $34m in 2023). Shad Khan is bankrolling all of this.

[phonics]

I don't care, I like watching good wrestlers doing good wrestling matches because I watch the shows instead of reading recaps and 30 second Twitter clips. There's bad stuff but WWE's been dogshit on all counts for large swathes of my adult life. That's fine, I'll like what I like but posing everyone who likes AEW as some fucking moron who doesn't UNDERSTAND THE BUSINESS is fucking cringe.

[wullie]

It feels like too often someone has hype either from coming in new or picking up steam and instead of capitalising on it they're quickly in another stable or feuding with some dork. Wardlow is limited enough but he could easily have been their Batista now, instead he's Matt Morgan.

[phonics]

Khans biggest weakness is feeling like everyone has to get their shine. Which just ends up in your Wardlows getting hot, getting over, then getting forgotten because it's someone elses turn. It's been a consistent issue. I'm not some idiot that can't see that but it doesn't mean I have to never watch AEW again.

[Ben]

I don't care, I like watching good wrestlers doing good wrestling matches because I watch the shows instead of reading recaps and 30 second Twitter clips. There's bad stuff but WWE's been dogshit on all counts for large swathes of my adult life. That's fine, I'll like what I like but posing everyone who likes AEW as some fucking moron who doesn't UNDERSTAND THE BUSINESS is fucking cringe.

But that's it isn't it. AEW hardcore fans are like the boys at school who hate mainstream music just because it's mainstream. They love their little circle and the fact Tony books for them, but as soon as they do something logical that attracts a few new casual fans, they think they immediately have to pivot away again because "this isn't what AEW was created for" (the standard argument during the Punk era).

It's fucking infuriating because as a wrestling fan not in the bubble that just wants to enjoy something other than WWE (ie. me), AEW fans like to moan about their detractors but they're the biggest fucking gatekeepers going.

[phonics]

You're talking to someone who AEW hardcore fans attempted to dox because I questioned the Jericho/MJF angle where he had to fight some bloke from WCW so don't worry about what they think.

[Ben]

Khans biggest weakness is feeling like everyone has to get their shine. Which just ends up in your Wardlows getting hot, getting over, then getting forgotten because it's someone elses turn. It's been a consistent issue. I'm not some idiot that can't see that but it doesn't mean I have to never watch AEW again.

So what's your problem then? Nobody has said stop watching. But when The Wardlow Problem is so evident every week, it kills off many viewers who are in it for more than just a good match.

[phonics]

Because I do not care about if it makes money or if people that never watched it in the first place enjoy it. So I'll express my opinion that I do.

[7om]

Just catching up with this week’s Raw.

It can’t be said enough how good Drew McIntyre has been over the last few months. Top quality shit-posting on social media and top quality work on the microphone. I genuinely love his work right now.

[7om]

WCW a company that never made a literal penny.

Incorrect. WCW made profit in 96, 97, 98 and 99. I highly doubt AEW has had a profitable year yet.

[Ben]

Shame Mania isn't this weekend because work on the Monday is going to be a struggle.

[Ben]

Can always rely on Zom to have WCW's corner. :cool:

[7om]

Can always rely on Zom to have WCW's corner. :cool:

:cool:

[Waffdon]

Shame Mania isn't this weekend because work on the Monday is going to be a struggle.

Yep. They need to move it to end of March so we get it an hour earlier. Last few weeks have been bliss watching US related stuff

[phonics]

Incorrect. WCW made profit in 96, 97, 98 and 99. I highly doubt AEW has had a profitable year yet.

WCW lost 10 million quid in 99 so I would love to see where you got these other numbers from. Once again, I could not give a single fuck whether AEW made a penny. You're the one that cares about Eric Bischoffs booking reputation.

1772705311612121495

Cry more.

[7om]

I don’t care one iota about AEW. I’m just correcting your erroneous statement.

[phonics]

With absolutely zero proof.

[wullie]

It's right that a lot of people who worked for Turner wanted rid of wrestling and eventually got their wish after the merger, but under Bischoff WCW became profitable for the first time and had their best year in 1998 before it all went to shit again by the end of 1999.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1772807568831795419

Bron :cool:

[7om]

With absolutely zero proof.

"Bischoff said in an interview last April that WCW had “never made a dollar of profit in the history of the company” when he took over the division in 1994 and made it profitable within a 12-month period."

https://mikemooneyham.com/2001/01/14/bischoff-faces-tougher-task-this-time/#:~:text=Bischoff%20said%20in%20an%20interview,rec ord%20earnings%20in%20that%20division.


964553607256317952


Bischoff truly went full circle – from taking the dying promotion from years of follies and a distant second to the hottest wrestling organization in the country, only to oversee its fall. He took the Atlanta-based company from $24 million to more than $225 million in revenues in just a few years and made more than $50 million in profits in 1997 and 1998.

https://mikemooneyham.com/2004/05/30/watts-responds-to-bischoff/



For several years in the '90s, Eric Bischoff was Turner Broadcasting's "golden child." As the Senior Vice President of World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Bischoff guided the promotion to its first profits in 1995

Read More: https://www.wrestlinginc.com/1183365/eric-bischoff-addresses-shutdown-of-wcw-live-events/



From The Death of WCW book: In addition to the sky-rocketing ratings, WCW was one of the biggest and most profitable touring groups in the country, as fans swarmed to arenas for live Nitros and for the monthly megashows. Fans who couldn’t attend the matches live ordered in record numbers via the miracle of pay-per-view, spending upwards of $30 a month just to watch the special events. And let’s not forget the insane amounts of merchandise sold, from T-shirts to posters to magazines to bandanas to wrestling teddy bears to key chains to beanie babies to sipper cups to every stupid tchotchke piece of crap imaginable — all with the WCW logo slapped right on it. Everything was making the company money, to the tune of more than a $55 million profit in a single year.

[7om]

WCW a company that never made a literal penny.

Like I said. Incorrect.

[Waffdon]

You’ll be getting angry responses now. Watch out

[7om]

You’ll be getting angry responses now. Watch out

I’m here for it :D

[wullie]

This book about WCW (https://www.amazon.co.uk/NITRO-Incredible-Inevitable-Collapse-Turners/dp/0692139176) is good although my feeling that the author really allowed Eric Bischoff more right to reply than you'd expect is confirmed by them co-writing a book together later.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Zom dropping fachts :drool:

You love to see it.

[7om]

Nobody besmirches the good name of WCW on my watch.

[Ben]

All this WCW talk has me wanting to watch SuperBrawl 2000 again. Such a glorious clusterfuck of an event.

Boring chants in the opening match. Then Brian fucking Knobbs pulling a "doesn't work for me, brother" in the next match. WCW having to bill a midcard match as a "main event" to satisfy them dropping $500k to licence the KISS Demon, only to have him promptly squashed by The Wall. A Vince Russo special Leather Jacket on a Pole match with the highlight being Tank Abbott pulling a knife and threatening to murder his opponent for a shoot. Then we get Booker T vs. Big T feuding over the letter T (spoiler: Booker T loses and has to be billed as just Booker for the next 9 months or so). David Flair then proves to be the worst wrestling son of a wrestler ever to exist as Greg Gagne and David Sammartino rejoice. The best match on the show is a Texas Death between two pensioners. Hogan then literally ends Luger's career. Then the main event triple threat has six referees and goes home after 7 minutes because they ran out of PPV runtime.

AEW can only dream of such chaos. I implore everyone to watch this show.

[Dark Soldier]

Fucking yes Seven fuck him right up, majestic lad.

[Shindig]

All this WCW talk has me wanting to watch SuperBrawl 2000 again. Such a glorious clusterfuck of an event.

Boring chants in the opening match. Then Brian fucking Knobbs pulling a "doesn't work for me, brother" in the next match. WCW having to bill a midcard match as a "main event" to satisfy them dropping $500k to licence the KISS Demon, only to have him promptly squashed by The Wall. A Vince Russo special Leather Jacket on a Pole match with the highlight being Tank Abbott pulling a knife and threatening to murder his opponent for a shoot. Then we get Booker T vs. Big T feuding over the letter T (spoiler: Booker T loses and has to be billed as just Booker for the next 9 months or so). David Flair then proves to be the worst wrestling son of a wrestler ever to exist as Greg Gagne and David Sammartino rejoice. The best match on the show is a Texas Death between two pensioners. Hogan then literally ends Luger's career. Then the main event triple threat has six referees and goes home after 7 minutes because they ran out of PPV runtime.

AEW can only dream of such chaos. I implore everyone to watch this show.

WCW running out of time was so damn good. It happened so often, too.

[Ben]

Was it Goldberg vs. DDP they had to replay for free on Nitro the next night due to Hogan and Warrior going way over time? That match was so hot, incredible for just ten minutes or whatever it was.

[Shindig]

Yeah, one of the Halloween Havocs. That might also be the one where Warrior's trapdoor broke Davey Boy's back.

[Ben]

Davey broke his back at Fall Brawl I'm sure, which would have been immediately before Halloween Havoc 1998.

Look at this fucking card. The second half an absolute all-timer on paper:
WCW World Television Title Match
Chris Jericho (c) vs. Raven

Singles Match
Wrath vs. Meng

Singles Match
Juventud Guerrera vs. Disco Inferno

Singles Match
Fit Finlay vs. Alex Wright

Singles Match
Lodi vs. Saturn

WCW World Cruiserweight Title Match
Kidman (c) vs. Disco Inferno

WCW World Tag Team Title Match
The nWo Hollywood (Scott Steiner & The Giant) (c) vs. Buff Bagwell & Rick Steiner

No Disqualification Match
Rick Steiner vs. Scott Steiner

Singles Match
Kevin Nash vs. Scott Hall

WCW United States Heavyweight Title Match
Bret Hart (c) vs. Sting

Singles Match
The Warrior vs. Hollywood Hogan

WCW World Heavyweight Title Match
Goldberg (c) vs. Diamond Dallas Page

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Meng :drool:

[7om]

Chris Jericho vs Raven in the opener was also a great match.

[SvN]

Just found the best promo of all time


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKSiChEuTng

[7om]

1773258393790062597

Imagine being up at 4am to tweet this out. Got to be the most thin-skinned person in the business.

[Ben]

Cocaine :cool:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1773258393790062597

Imagine being up at 4am to tweet this out. Got to be the most thin-skinned person in the business.

1773321462046138615

Bischoff firing back :cool:

[Baz]

I kind of hope it’s a work.

https://media1.giphy.com/media/xULW8PFsRKImryMwbm/200w.gif?cid=6c09b952gcvql6uhdy62zd9crgzhgtyplyxce z15frq5jui4&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=200w.gif&ct=g

I’m backkkk

[Lewis]

I always find Eric Bischoff pulling a serious face slightly unsettling. Like he's really concentrating or holding in a massive fart. He looks like an old Jamie Carragher in that 'Strictly Business' picture.