Wrestling

Hmm RR92? Perhaps the greatest in history?

Overall, I might agree that he’s an opinionated fuck.

Britt shared an interesting story a while ago that she now took down. Perhaps a spoiler for tonight.

If so, my my my!

Edit:
If you wanna know what it is about check this:

Poor old AEW. Really trying hard to make that storyline seem like a convincing shoot.

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It’s pretty cool how many people are on the fence about it. The absence definitely added to the mystique. After that “pipebomb” I think most finally caught on it being a work, or at least a shoot turned into work. Naturally, I think a lot of people expected him to be taken off TV to sell the angle but being absent for so long has raised some eyebrows. Perhaps it’s just wishful thinking from some wanting this to blow up on Tony’s face.
Even someone like Cornette has been speculating about it perhaps being a shoot, turned to work and turned back to a shoot, which is great really.

Reminds me of this:

I just find it a bit emblematic if AEW’s problem appealing to people outside it’s fanbase. Inside the AEW bubble, people think MJF is living out some kind of CM Punk 2011 industry re-defining angle, but to be honest it just comes across like they’re trying too hard.

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I don’t think anything will recapture that moment though. Frankly, that was more than a decade ago, more people used to care about wrestling back then.
That moment in the context of WWE back then had a much different impact. Especially after he truly walked out. WWE essentially opened the gates to indy stars who would have never had had a prime spot on WWE TV before.
They gave Bryan his WM moment which I felt was a direct shot at Punk at the time. They put the title on Rollins and ran with him the next year. They brought in AJ and treated him like a star. They put the title on KO, AJ, Finn, etc.
NXT was turned into ROH with a budget.

I don’t think MJF walking out will be an industry redefining moment. I think it’s just part of the MJF- Punk feud which is a very carefully put together story which is inspired by old school stuff from the 80s, 90s and even modern stuff from 00s and 10s.
There’s no flips, no spotfests. They managed to get 4-5 months out of it almost weekly, with it being the most compelling thing we’ve seen in wrestling for some time now, everything they did was pretty much a home run and they actually left more to pick up on down the line.

Btw, I appreciate you’re not buying into this whole walkout thing but a lot of people seem to do which is refreshing to see in 2022.
People at the back don’t seem to know what’s going on. The dirtsheets have been made to look like fools way too many times regarding this story.

It is definitely a testament to MJF’s approach of being in character 99% of the time, especially when cameras or media are around.

You probably can’t find footage of MJF being normal after 2019. :rofl:

I have to disagree it’s compelling beyond the AEW bubble. It’s another example of why AEW can only go so far, it’s catering to AEW fans who fancy themselves as being wise to the business. I don’t think it has the wider reach you seem to suggest and AEW don’t seem very interested in drawing in a wider audience anyway.

I also thought Punk’s return last night was poorly handled. They seemed to going for something like Austin’s “the old Stone Cold” entrance but Punk isn’t the kind of wrestler and character that can carry that off convincingly. I also think Moxley is an underwhelming opponent for him on his comeback. He’s pretty much a one trick pony in AEW, and absolutely no match for Punk on the mic.

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Holy shit, what a show!
Fite stream screwed up a bit as we lost the first minute or so of the opener but the show delivered.
Got goosebumps from that ending, I genuinely didn’t expect that. :sob:

Fucks sake, man

I didn’t even see Leper’s post.
Should have used spoiler tags at least to blur Punk’s name so it’s not totally spoiled.

Poor @DavidHillier now knows exactly how the show will go. :sweat_smile:

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Definitely.

Absolutely ruined.

It hasn’t even aired in the UK. Not til tomorrow night.

I managed to navigate my way through social media to avoid any spoilers.
It really added to the show. Sorry man.

Btw, ITV were still offering Dynamite on-demand right after the show airs? So you can watch it before it airs on Friday.

Hey @Leper you gimmick thief! Only I can spoil shows around here

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Btw, how about this?

TK has been much kinder to WWE ever since the old man and his goons fucked off.

WWE v AEW SuperShow, give it to us! :arteta2:

Pack Cole and Andrade and send them back to WWE as a gift.

Pretty cool to see AEW and WWE both producing some good shit. :syringe::syringe:

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He’s just trying to get the focus back on AEW, or more accurately, himself.

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Eh, whatever. Just happy product overall has picked up.

Wrestling doesn’t have long left before it becomes a playground for celebrities or other athletes to cross over and fake fight.

Doubt pro wrestling will be a thing by 2030. Gotta enjoy it while we can.

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I dunno so much about that. WWE has picked up, AEW might have too in the eyes of those on the inside of its bubble but it’s wider appeal has certainly gone the other way, and I think the owner is a significant reason for that.

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AEW tried to be something wrestling didn’t need. It tried to be a giant Indy promotion that exposed Indy wrestling work and mark wrestling to the wider audience.

To cater to a wider audience you need a combination of good story telling with good ring work and they’ve not been able to tell me too many good stories.

If I, as a causal, turned on AEW and saw a 50 year old Jericho bleeding and barbed wire surrounding the ring with some shit looking weird Indy guys in the ring I’d turn it straight off.

Social media sped up the decline of wrestling but companies like AEW have no wider appeal. It’s largely an Indy company that got billionaire backing from a chairman who grew up writing role plays online.

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Agreed. There defo isn’t a buzz for AEW anymore from a casual fan point of view.

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This is definitely one of their many problems. A lot of people who are into this stuff think wrestling has gone downhill since the attitude and ruthless aggression eras when WWE put that stuff on the big stage. But when I see it now, I just realise how ridiculous and stupid it looks.

Wrestlers covered in blood falling over each other after 30+ minutes of stupid weapon spots makes pro wrestling look like a joke, and less like a combat/entertainment program. No actual combat sport would have competitors fighting while blood poured out of open gashes on their head ffs.

By contrast, WWE’s in ring output has improved for cutting that shit out.

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