forameus

That was such an odd, odd match. You've got your main heel tag-team, aligning with one of the more hated groups in the company, facing your face team, made up of...Sammy Guavara, who will likely never seem like a face because of his big punchable pretty face, Darby Allin, who is definitely over, but comes across like he'd be a proper dick to be around, Jericho, who is just a day removed from potentially serious allegations coming out about him, and poor Sting, who must be thinking what the f**k he's done to deserve this final run. I can just imagine him breathing a sigh of relief that Ric Flair wouldn't be accompanying him this time, then last night it slowly dawning on him that he's just been replaced by someone else that's problematic. Match itself just died because of it. Whenever something like this comes out, you're always going to have two extreme sides - people that believe he's clearly a serial rapist, and will act accordingly, and people who can't bring themselves to admit that someone they looked up to could be a sex pest. Loud cheers, mixed with loud boos, and you're unlikely to ever recover from that. The match didn't matter - why put him out there? Although I suspect the answer is - because he'd throw a strop if he wasn't. Overall, I thought the show was a bit of a disappointment by AEW's standards. Granted I was "watching" the latter couple of hours while doing other things, so I probably missed a lot of the impact, but it seemed like they really back-loaded the card so the first couple of hours just felt like Dynamite without the ads. Once they got to the "big" matches, I felt like they didn't quite reach the size they needed to. Edge/Christian was fine, but that's twice now they've basically hyped up this big amazing match, then spun their wheels and ended up doing nothing to move the story to the next stage. Edge is still raging, Christian's still champion, his pals are still under the thumb, Luchasaurus is still conflicted. If the match before had kicked up a couple more gears I could forgive it, but it never really seemed to hit that. Even the fire spot looked pretty awkward. Kingston/Moxley was probably the one that suffered most from me not paying enough atttention. Might go back and give it a watch, but definitely the right decision. Unfortunately, despite telling myself last night that I absolutely should not swipe on my phone to the curated Google section that seems to think I only want to hear about Glasgow and Wrestling, I swiped on my phone and saw the first article saying Joe won the title, and a picture of Cole standing over MJF. f**k sake. But at least that was kind of the ending I expected was going to happen. Again though, it felt like the match was missing those couple of gears it needed, and the end seemed to come very abruptly. Probably the right decision to have Joe win cleanly without interference rather than having the devil essentially win it. Good for Joe, and hopefully he gets the chance to carry the title for a little while. Swerve seems to be who they're positioning, but I would've liked to see a clear face/heel dynamic in Joe's first feud given how good Joe is at being a proper psycho. Still, if that's where they go, it'll be great. And I expect whoever holds in the first half of the year, they're just being built up for William Ospreay to take it at Wembley.

MJF is just incredible. Roman Reigns is obviously top of WWE, but he has had nowhere near the time and journey that MJF has had, and although Reigns has nailed his presentation specifically, I'm not sure he holds a candle to MJF in any one part of wrestling, let alone be pretty damn good at all of them. every time you think "oh, there's a weakness" to him, he emphatically shows you why that's bullshit. He was consistently a brilliant heel, mixing in the usual "your sports team" low-hanging fruit with properly venomous stuff, as well as being genuinely funny (I'll never not pop for him calling Schiavone a fat p***k). Then when it seemed like he might be a bit limited in that role, the Adam Cole stuff started, and he went from being the undisputed top heel to a really, really believable face. Tonight he's probably going to be beaten with some shenanigans, and the heat is going to rain down on Joe and probably Cole too. If you said a year ago that that would happen before 2023 was out, I'm not sure anyone would believe you, and they'd definitely not believe that MJF had pretty much dragged himself there through his own work. I suspect it's a moot point, as he's already signed a new contract, but if I was WWE, I'd have moved heaven and earth to get him. There's a lot of great talents in WWE that I don't think would really translate that well. Be successful, but nowhere near as good as they could be doing the AEW/NJPW/Indies sort of circuit. MJF can do everything. With enough freedom, he would be such an asset. I still think he'll go there eventually, but I don't think there's any possible chance it's now. Wouldn't be surprised if he's added a year or two to tie up this story, really cement his place as THE AEW guy, then he can go to WWE for stupid money and do the same there. He's that good in my mind. EDIT: One bit I did like in that article that I found interesting - even if it is pretty obvious. When he said that he asked what to say when he had the promo with Bret Hart, you'd imagine if it's WWE, first off he's probably not getting that opportunity, but if he did, you'll likely have that pretty heavily scripted unless you're a Rock kind of character. I suspect with AEW it wasn't a "here's your freedom", and more them flying by the seat of their pants, but I found it quite interesting.

Those League vs Nation games show what's missing from modern football. Now we've got a million games a year, most of them utterly pointless, and clubs disappearing off for semi-lucrative pre-season tours then complaining about fixture congestion. In the olden days we had the suits in charge getting pished and putting in mad shite like League vs Nation or the Tennents Sixes that ends up being super popular.

While it would obviously be absolutely detrimental to AEW, I would probably never stop laughing if it turns out a coked up Tony Khan is the devil, and he starts being a proper on-screen character.

Nice to see we're back to the women's booking of "have a match, heels win, post-match beat-down, face runs down to save". Innovative. I know I'm in a tiny minority, but I've never quite taken to Kingston. Even so, he's probably one of the more believable characters, and having him win is exactly what needed to happen, even if it just continues Danielson's complete aversion to winning any feud he has. Moxley winning the other side was a bit meh, and he's starting to feel pretty over-exposed, so hopefully Kingston wins the whole thing. World's End feels a bit of an odd show. Built largely around the MJF story, but instead of your big show being where feuds conclude, it seems like AEW are trying to make it where they start. Quite a few matches just chucked on there seemingly with little build-up (I know Swerve and Lee have a lot of history, but still), and although it's probably recency bias, this is probably the first AEW main show card where most of the matches seem a bit shit. It'll be a good show, it always is, but feel they could have done better. Then the MJF stuff...they reeeeeally need to do the reveal at the show on Saturday, because you can hear the story creaking from all the shit they've put on it. It's almost certainly Cole now, which is probably the right decision, but they need to move it on for something to actually happen, and prove they can actually pivot if they need to. Always an outside shot that Cole isn't quite as injured as they're making out and he's closer to ready than expected, but if it isn't, just get on with it anyway.

I never really got into Rocket League. Seemed like one of those games that I'd struggle to enjoy unless I sunk a huge amount of time into, and when I did play it, it was...fine. Maybe revisit at some point. Nah, I'm shite. Probably very mid-level, did alright when I was playing regularly, but rarely bothering the top echelons. I think the general consensus seems to be this, that it's largely shite unless you can devote time, effort and talent into it, and even then it'll probably be pretty miserable.

They just need to find a way to make it Cole that makes sense and drags things on until he's healthy. Anything else would range from absolutely mental to just disappointing. I've got a horrible feeling it'll end up being MJF himself, which would be...fucking horrible honestly. Personally I think it'll be Cole, and he'll be revealed in some way at World's End. Probably costing him the title to Joe. MJF then gets to go away and sell him totally going to WWE obvs, and ultimately heal up after being everywhere for about a year. Joe gets the title and gives the whole picture a refresh with a well-deserved run (possibly up to a big face run for Ospreay to win at All In). Then when Cole is better, MJF can suddenly return and kick off what was presumably ultimately going to happen eventually before the injury. That would seem a sensible way to go about things and book your way out of a hole. But knowing AEW, I expect a completely broken MJF retains both his titles at World's End, nothing gets revealed, and we keep having them spin their wheels for months until it turns out it's fucking Ric Flair or something.

I've seen this is on sale and I'm swithering. I know I'll end up utterly miserable with it, but I do miss having the sort of game you just load up and play a few games in. I know the only route I'd end up walking though leads to getting into FUT and being constantly beaten down by it.

It does open up some questions around that. If Omega has got designs on going to WWE at some point, if his career now looks shorter, it could mean that happens sooner rather than later. I think it's gotten to the point that WWE are now happy to let certain people choose their schedule, and although the travel is a lot worse, you'd imagine the in-ring stuff holds less risk than it would in AEW (although I guess it's a toss-up between harder matches and more of them). If he did want to go, and made the move, would all his pals want to go too? And if Omega and perhaps the Bucks were to go, there's a certain Charles Montgomery Punk there now, and WWE could spin quite the yarn with that one if they can get on the same page. Fantasy booking of course, I expect Omega doesn't really feel the need to go to WWE, but I could be wrong.

The Creeds are in that small group that are tremendously exciting purely because you've no idea if you'll see a perfect feat of athletic strength, or someone getting horribly hurt. They do really need to tone down some aspects though, it'd be a massive waste of their talent if they start legitimately - and accidentally, of course - hurting people and getting that reputation. They could probably do anything as a finisher and make it look devastating, so a good idea to change it before someone gets hurt.

This should be the sort of tournament that's really interesting. You get to see teams you'll never usually see, and get to see who in the world of football is truly the best. In reality, it's probably going to be utterly tedious. Any side outside of Europe will probably give it a good go, but ultimately it'd be like having Scottish teams going up against English. We might win 1 out of 10, but the resources are so incredibly different there's usually going to be no surprises. I wouldn't be surprised if the latter stages just end up being the same old European sides facing each other again, probably most of them having played out a similar draw in the Champions League just weeks before. Add the fact that everyone's going to be fucking knackered, and that it isn't the far more appealing prospect of an international tournament, then yeah, load of utter utter shite.

Just saying his prayers and eating his vitamins, guys. Jesus took the wheel, but left behind an industrial amount of big-juice.

So is that going to be Jericho getting written out too to give him some time o... Lol. No. He's getting a different partner. Cannae be having him out of the spotlight for any sort of time.

And maybe it's me being all "still real to me dammit", but it's not a great look on him and suggests he hasn't learned a thing. Just watched it, and that silence during the line is noticeable. But maybe it's just the stench of his disastrous AEW run, but he just seems incredibly unlikeable throughout. Sooner he goes full-on heel and can turn his mic skills towards evil the better.

Certainly looks the part, and given Rockstar's past, you can probably expect the game to look just as good as the trailer, if not better. 2025 date is a bit of a pisser, particularly as that could just easily be December 2025 as January. Only question is how much of the stuff they've shown is achievable through gameplay and how much is just marketing rendering. Really hoping that the final product is as "busy" as this one looks.

They already have in spaces where it gets talked about. Plenty of making up things that will definitely be in the game, just so they can complain about it. And a lot of those that aren't bitterly disappointed at there probably being a female protagonist are salivating about what she'll look like. It's fucking depressing. I expect there's going to be lot of absolutely raging people tomorrow for various baffling reasons.

It sounds like they're building the devil stuff at least towards a reveal. If they can do that well at World's End, and have Joe leave with the title, I think you get the chance to let MJF disappear for a little while to sell whatever's happened, and crucially heal up a bit. Also helps Cole heal, as no matter what the reveal is, Cole will surely play into it heavily. They can start a completely new story for the top title, presumably a long build towards Ospreay taking it, and then let MJF come back post Revolution or something to finish off the devil story without the title. It just doesn't need it, and MJF is now at a level where he doesn't need it either. But then they seem to be ensuring that Moxley never, ever gets a break, so maybe they'll just have MJF with the titles until his leg comes off or something.

Got to hope they don't just think they can get away with what they did last year. If they properly build the show and can announce certain matches in advance, they'll have no issues getting a big number. If they just chuck together a decent card a couple of weeks before, maybe not. The way AEW books though, f**k knows what they could go with. With WWE you could probably plan out WM40 fairly accurately by the time Summerslam finishes, but it's a long way to August. If you do have something like Danielson hanging it up, that's huge (Punk's last AEW match and Danielson's last overall would be quite the two years). Ospreay in a prominent match - perhaps winning the title - would be big. They'll put on a great show, no doubt, but will be a bit of a shame if the tickets sag a bit after last year.

Best guess appears to be that it's Strong, Taven and Bennett, led by Cole. The absolute VLs body language experts over on Reddit are apparently convinced that it's them because of the mannerisms and way they move. And Khan has apparently already said that they're not using just anyone in a mask to disguise anything, the people that have appeared under the masks are the people that will be revealed. Only question is whether Kyle O'Reilly is part of it, as it seems like he's just all round fucked with injuries and illness. Would be nice to see him back though, like the guy. I'm still holding some fear that it all turns out to be MJF in some big "it was me Austin" moment. Which would be shite.

That's...quite something. For anyone not caring about being spoiled for Rampage, quote below

Away from Dynamite, anyone got their All In tickets yet? I missed the pre-sale on Monday but got in on the Ticketmaster one. Had a few re-rolls for tickets as seems like all the 100 level tickets went pretty quickly. Went up to the next price bracket and got block 209, so in one of the corners. Also interesting that they seem to have completely changed the setup from last year with the stage taking up one end rather than being at halfway. Be nice to actually see the entranceway this year, if it isn't blocked by whatever canopy they chuck up over the ring.

I do find the mentions a little bit wee-guy, and it does always seem to be in one direction. I don't think WWE don't mention them because they don't care, quite the opposite in fact, but the silence seems a bit more dignified than "this company wasted this guy". Aye, Joe has carved out a great wee niche and didn't deserve the treatment he got, but WWE are about to make a huge amount of money from someone AEW couldn't control, and I expect there are a lot of wrestlers currently residing in AEW that WWE could just go and tempt over at will. AEW have an often great product, and a terrific alternative (or addition to, for a lot of people) to WWE. Just get on with making your product the best it can be. It also might show some of the tribalists who will defend either side to the death that they should reign it in a wee bit and realise that having both of them is fucking great for wrestling. Anyway, Dynamite was...alright I suppose. I assume FITE had issues during the MJF promo, everything blacked out just before the tag team challenge, so not entirely sure what went on. I assume he's facing two goons next week? Assume they'll unmask and it'll be Taven and Bennet or something, and Adam Cole will be like whaaaaaaaat, making it obvious that it's him behind it all. Ric Flair remains a really questionable hire. Sting looks like he's visibly cringing whenever the auld duffer gets to speak. I get him coming in around the actual retirement match, but to have him as Sting's mascot when there's a decent chance he'll either die or get into hot water before March is certainly a decision. It's like they saw that Darby Allin would be away and pencilled in a replacement pal. Who's a creepy boy with a questionable past? Gie Ric a call!

I haven't seen the promo, but sounds like it was pretty underwhelming. Headline on Bleacher Report suggested it was one of Punk's typical amazing promos, but their actual write-up seems to echo what others are saying. I expect a "short leash" is massively underselling what he's under with WWE, as is their right. But you have to imagine that if he is being told he can't cut the kind of promos he's known for, then what's the point in bringing him back? I expect things'll change once he actually gets into a proper feud. If it is with Rollins, I expect we'll get to see what he's really made of, but if they think that a weak, hypocritical ra-ra speech is the way to go, then who knows? I'd be fairly sure he won't blow anything up in WWE. With AEW he was basically enabled in being the terrible b*****d he ended up being with Khan just being unable - or unwilling - to instill any kind of discipline. If you're in that environment, where's the incentive to behave? At WWE, any discontent will likely get quashed way earlier, and I expect they've covered themselves legally with the contract anyway. You're right about the last bit though. As long as they don't completely f**k it up, he'll probably end his career in relative comfort with both parties having made a significant amount of money.

It's generally accepted that the Bucks reached out to Punk when AEW was being formed and made it clear they wanted him. He got the hump immediately, something about them not doing it in "the right way". Punk has been almost solely responsible for everything that happened, and if anyone's as equally to blame, it's Tony Khan for basically doing nothing while everyone acted like children. My pet hate is the shouts for the camera they'll do as they hit moves. Not sure what it is about it, as MJF also likes to do similar, but for him it's more about extra selling of whatever's happening, rather than try-harding and being smart. But fully admit that most people likely still think they're brilliant, and it's likely me in a minority group being a grumpy shit.

I just couldn't really see Ospreay ever going to WWE. He's one of the best in the world, but I can't see them just accepting Ospreay the way he is. If you round off those edges to make him WWE-worthy, does he retain the same allure? AEW he's already worked with, he can basically step straight in without changing, he's almost certainly going to figure heavily at Wembley in August - possibly even main event - and he's allowed to drift over to Japan if need be.