forameus

I think they're using JR a lot better than they used to. When he was on for the whole show, it just felt like an old man completely out of time. Now he's coming in for matches here and there it's a lot better as he still has a lot to offer, but last night he seemed to always be there again. He doesn't have it in him to properly lead a broadcast, and often finds himself just adding weird comments under everyone else. The interim title comment seemed out of nowhere and didn't really add much. If you take JR out of that, I quite like the team they've got. There's a relaxed atmosphere to the coverage that WWE could never match (although might be more possible now). Seems like a few guys genuinely enjoying themselves but not in a way that detracts from the product, whereas WWE always seems like they're always reaching for the branding and rehearsed lines. Consistently impressed with AEW's weekly programming now. With FITE it's easy to watch on a Thursday morning, and there's consistently stuff in there you want to see, with at least one "big" match each show. I was skeptical about them just running four big shows a year, but I can completely see their reasoning now. Much better to build towards massive shows if they can keep their weekly shows at that elevated level.

Saw it said that Vince is now up to 4.7 WCWs in terms of missing money. Some going. I think stuff like that could have a place, but perhaps not in a company like WWE, or even AEW. I'm sure there is - or at least was - a Tory character in some indie fed here called Strong and Stable (although googling it, it seems the podcast I listened to maybe made him up, as all I get is either British Strong Style or Roderick Strong). I think as a tool to get heat, if you do it smartly it definitely has a place. If it's dumb as shit - which WWE will often be - then not so much. As for liberal/PC characters, remember Daniel Bryan wanting to save the planet? Heel. I imagine Sami Zayn would probably have pitched his current character more towards the face side, but he's a filthy liberal who likes charity, so obviously a heel. And I think you're misremembering the Rosie O'Donnell stuff. It was actually Rosie vs Donald Trump, with big Don obviously going over. It was indeed fucking brutal to watch.

On any decently moderated forum (that would punt people for being genuinely abusive) blocking anyone seems like a bit of a riddy. But for an actual organisation to do it - or at least someone acting as a representative - is certainly more of one.

Aye, she clearly knows that side of things well enough, and can be completely separated and allowed to do just that. Nick Khan gets to continue to crush dreams and grow share prices. Trips gets to solely concentrate on the booking and the roster. Much better set up than the two former doing those jobs under the maniacal and senile gaze of Big V

I think having NXT 2.0 and Vince's WWE, yeah, but having 2.0 and HHH's WWE, I think they'd be great together. There's no real need to have a Black and Gold version if you can merge that into your main roster, and 2.0 has been seemingly valuable to get inexperienced people actual ring time in front of cameras. I know they're massively high on him, but would Bron Breakker be getting the shine he is if we were still getting 40 minute main events with Adam Cole kicking out of a million finishers? I agree though, at the time, when Vince leaving was just fantasy, it must've been a fucking dark time in his life. Almost dying, realising his in-ring career is done, having years of his professional life essentially erased, and having to watch people he fought to have on his show disappear off to have fun elsewhere. But what a fucking turn-around some errant financial payments can make, eh?

If they play Lumis right, he could be fucking brilliant. From memory in NXT he's fine in the ring, he's got the look, and you could easily write him as a heel or face depending on what you need. Going to be really interesting to see how the whole product looks once we get a full month's build and the Cardiff show. Trips hasn't changed anything massively, but lots of little things have made such a massive difference.

On the Philanthropy line...well, she's not really wrong is she? It's still a pretty odious thing to say, but better a company funneling large amounts of money into philanthropy for less than pure philanthropic reasons, than doing nothing at all. The rest, aye fair enough. Although I would give her more time in the role to see how she does on her own. Previously it didn't really matter who was in these roles as Vince would do what he liked regardless. There's a chance that she ends up being markedly different. Or worse. EDIT: And just to add particularly on the character stuff from the previous post. That's spot on. She was a great at being hated, absolutely, but like you say, Vince was that too but was still willing to lose and put someone else over in the process. He got his comeuppance. Steph has very, very rarely gotten that. Obviously you're unlikely to have a male talent beat the shit out of her (minor points for Reigns spearing her, but I think everyone had fallen asleep by that point), but it was rare she even let the women do that. Rousey did it, but it's vanishingly rare she was ever actually put in the position where it was possible. Brie Bella was the only other time as far as I can remember, and big Steph went over. I think if she did come back as an on-screen character (which she won't) and she leaned more into the Vince side of getting comeuppance, she'd be brilliant as a heel. But of course that spot should be taken up with someone more deserving.

I didn't think Mitchell deserved that much criticism for the own goal. Poor clearance, but 99 times out of 100 it doesn't sail perfectly back the way it came and into the goal from 30 yards. The defence needs more questioning as to why, even after this, they kept giving him horrendous short passes under pressure. Luckily he did with them what he'd probably do the other time in 100 and sliced it high. Although for the horrendously embarrassing moments that shouldn't have happened, that goal's got competition with the half-time "entertainment".

Ciampa is facing Lashley for the US Title on RAW on Monday with Miz at his side, who is already laying the seeds for him to turn on him. Slight turn towards face for Ciampa and then Rebel Heart plays, out comes Gargano in his home town to reunite DIY on the main roster. Bonus points if Ciampa then turns on him right back and we get to replay the NXT story on the main roster.

It will be a big test for them going forward. They could always fall back on the fact that WWE was usually hopeless, but if they turn that around, it could lead to people starting to drift away from the product. At the same time though, I don't think the concept of a "war" for ratings really exists anymore. It's never been easier to be a fan of more than one thing, so even if AEWs quality stalls or goes down, I'm not sure it would ever be enough to see people abandon it (not many abandoned WWE when they were much worse).

I'm playing in the Reunion Isles, which has an interesting approach to getting points in the league. 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw, and 1 for a defeat. It's never seemed as ridiculous as it did when the 1 point for a defeat led to this news item. technically correct, but...well, it isn't quite the story, is it?

It was a good solid show, although not quite as remarkable as it maybe could have been. Probably not too much of a surprise given how quickly everything happened. The Cardiff show is probably an anomaly, as I'd imagine they would have wanted to make that big no matter who was in charge, but it's going to be really interesting to see once they get back to the US for Extreme Rules in October, and then definitely for Survivor Series in November. That's hopefully going to be when there's been enough time to seed stories and new approaches. Survivor Series especially given that now they've unified a lot of belts, they can't do their usual champion vs champion stuff. As for the Summerfest itself, definitely a statement of intent put out early with the debuts. Bayley being back is massive, and Io and Kai are really good additions. Also got Becky back where they presumably want her. But after that the rest of the show (up to the main) kind of fell into the same pattern we've had for a long time. Everything was good, some things were really good, but nothing really jumped out as being an absolute classic. The main event wasn't either, but it was proper stupid fun, and that's something WWE need to get back to at times. Slight marks off for the match never really building to an ending and kind of petering out, but all in all not bad. Would've been a far better end to a feud had it not been the 513th time they'd faced each other though.

I got that AEW Plus thing given it's quite easy to watch on catch-up, and the weekly shows are markedly better than WWE manage. Really impressed with what they're putting out, shows in constant motion, and there's never a feeling that you get with RAW and Smackdown that it's 4 weeks of pointless airtime before the real stuff happens at a PPV. I know they're never likely to change hands, but when was the last time WWE put more than one title on the line on TV? Could argue that AEW did 4 last night (FTW x 2), and it makes it feel like you need to watch. I fucking love Danielson. Just doesn't matter what you give him to do, he'll put his all into it and make it brilliant. Especially since the real guy seems to be one of the nicest you could meet, it's all the more impactful when he puts his serious face on and kicks the shit out of another man. He's also managed to get his selling down to a frankly uncomfortable level. With his history of injury, every time you get a spot where he looks to be injured, it's all the more believable. Reminds me of that classic Lesnar match. On the negative though, at this stage it feels like they've missed an opportunity with the Luchasaurus/Jungle Boy stuff. Christian is absolutely killing it, and JB's promo was pretty good too, but I feel like however they play it with Luchasaurus, they could've done it better. If he stays with him, that's a huge waste, and if he turns again it seems like it's more convoluted than it needed to be. I'd like to have seen him have to go through Luchasaurus in one of those proper bloody emotional AEW-style matches, then have the turn, and then play out the Christian vs Jungle Boy story from there. I don't doubt they'll make a good job of it though, interesting to see how it plays out.

In all seriousness, I'm fairly sure it is a whoosh, but sadly there probably are people out there who'll see that big DX himself HHH is back and think that this is totally a direction they could - and should - go in.

I'm 93% sure someone's getting whooshed. Well, at least 89%...

This kind of stuff really shows the difference between journalists and wrestling journalists. Remember a while back there was something about WWE board members "insider trading"? They had to go on a massive backtrack because they were essentially slandering people with no backup, because they are simply out of their depth talking (or lying) about backstage stuff. I've never got why people worship the likes of Meltzer. Sure he's been in the industry for fucking ages, he runs the publication that's probably the main one in the industry, but anyone could do the rest. Just make vaguely educated guesses about the product, and if they don't come up? Plans changed. Some work if you can get it.

It would never happen given they seem to be afraid of making any serious changes, whether bad or good, but I'd treat Summerslam as a season finale of sorts. Not really much you can really do to change the course in a week, so have that as booked, and then come out Monday on RAW and send the book into the fucking sun. Go mental and have everyone drop their belts. 2-out-of-3 falls matches. 3 stages of hell. No gimmick PPVs. Just change absolutely everything and start from a clean slate. This is an unprecedented opportunity for them to do something they've arguably never been able to in their existence. Of course really they'll do f**k all, at least not quickly. I'd accept them slowly moving towards the new and maybe kick things off with the Royal Rumble, but with all the interest in the product right now - positive or negative - there's an opportunity there.

To be fair Gargano is arguably still in WWE, or at least hasn't gone anywhere else yet. He's as much there as anywhere else. With big Trips on the stick, certainly far more opportunities for smaller guys to get a shot, and if he is getting the sort of power it seems like he is, it's about to get a lot more attractive for the types of wrestlers old NXT thrived on. Certainly a good time to be, say, Tommaso Ciampa.

I decided that since I was having an alright time with my near-end-game team I'd go for one last WL. Started out quite well in playoffs before, as usual, scraping in at the last. Then a fucking horrendous start, and just about acceptable middle left me needing 4 wins in 5 to get to the 11. Won one, lost one, so needing 3 wins in 3 and thought there was no fucking chance. Hard-fought win, 2-0 rage quit, and then a properly heartening, very composed 3-0 win in the final game. Fucking brilliant. Open rewards and get 2 shite players I already had, and a 3rd option that wouldn't really start even if he did fit in chemistry wise, and then not a single special card or anything over 85 in the two packs that followed. You have to laugh really.

Arbroath is a nice wee change for the League Cup over Celtic. A different kind of bodying.

As others have said, that last window is probably one a lot of nations want to forget. It's just really unfortunate for us that instead of having Nations League games that are just pretty important, we also had an incredibly important playoff too to f**k up. We should have a more settled squad, presumably fresher, and I'd expect us to get positive results in the remainder of our games. This time just need to remember not to immediately get on our knees and start flagellating ourselves mercilessly in front of Ukraine like Wales didn't.

Goldberg would be such a depressing choice for what could be a real statement of intent. Granted they don't have much time but starting with tonight they could put in place something really new. f**k it, give a shot to someone deserving but unexpected. Have them give Reigns a scare but come up short. Any number of options would be better than Mad Bill coming in and blowing up after 3 minutes.

I don't get that guy. I know he's just a big message board Mark from the old days, but he comes out with some pish. He's likely got the best product in wrestling at the moment, just shut the f**k up and concentrate on that.

I don't buy why he'd tweet anything if he was going go be around in any capacity. I think he's done. The stories swirling are likely going to get worse, and it makes sense for him to get out of the public eye and distance the company from those stories (whether it's his own choice or not). So if thats true...fucking hell. A monumental time for the industry, let alone WWE. Brock deciding he doesn't fancy it is not a good look to start out with, but there's now a chance for things to really change creatively. It's going to be very, very interesting what comes next. But will say, there's not a fucking chance of anyone who's jumped ship coming back, at least none that matter. Mox is having a fucking great time and has no need for it. Punks problems weren't all about Vince, and he has plenty left to do in AEW. Possibly means the likes of MJF are more inclined to move over though.

Jumped back in trying to rekindle interest in the game, and think I've just about managed it, at least for now. Added a few French Overseas Territories leagues, and now trying to win the French Cup with one of them. Likely to be fucking solid, but hoping I can do the Gibraltar thing and build a side that's basically unbeatable domestically and get good enough to shitfest our way to the Cup. Then I *think* you get into European Competition from that, which means technically you can win the Champions League. Technically. We'll see.