I feel oddly vindicated for my stance that it was a massive mistake to have Kenny dethrone Okada instead of Naito at WK. At the time I argued that Naito was as over as anyone could have ever hoped for, it would have closed his arc well, and it was the right stage to do it at. Instead they had Okada win, Naito cooled off a bunch, Kenny's reign didn't really amount to much, and then he took all that build up and bailed. I'm not surprised NJPW doesn't want to partner initially.

I also don't expect much from AEW. Their top draws are Omega and Jericho, but it falls off of a cliff after that. Their idea to let the top wrestlers be the bookers is also awful (I remind you it was a nightmare back in the 90s/early 00s and their one show had booker Cody main eventing and winning the title doesn't give me any reason to think the same mistakes won't be made).It doesn't help that I can already tell it's going to be full of the type of fans that make NXT crowds so awful.

At the same time, if it's a success that would be nice. Anything to make Vince break out of his paint by numbers method of tv that's plagued the last decade.

To be fair that event was projected to be a one time thing and the title was a different situation--ie, cody chasing his dad's title backstory (the old nwa title) and he had to win given the crowd so I don't get your hate there. Also no obvious main event (omega vs pentagon? isn't so great in chicago).

You're right though, the good thing is they're not doing what TNA did and bring in every WWE great from 10-15 years ago--ie, way, way too late hogan/nash/hall/etc. Also tag division won't suck, but they don't have star power. It's Jericho and the second draw is the Bucks then a gap to Omega then a large gap. The worst part is there's no obvious big name to get other than AJ Styles in a few months since everyone who's a pal of theirs is getting PAID these days. TNA has been good for stretches but with only a few people anyone's heard of. WWE took almost everyone worthwhile. (at least that wasn't a LU person since some of those are boned atm) But I'd give Tessa Blanchard whatever just to get her so...

Everyone else who isn't going to clearly bolster the tag/women's division is just filler or enhancement at this point (ie the ziggler/ambroses aren't going to move the needle so they should just job if you're gonna bother with them). Randy Orton has nothing left to do in WWE so I spose that's a possibility but he's cooled off so much I'm not sure he's a draw much at all at this stage. Nakamura's only worth it to NJPW.

Anderson/gallows probably headed there since they're up this year too and well they've done all of mostly nothing in WWE.

NJPW already has a partnership with ROH and well they ended up taking everything and leaving on both of them so gl with that.

They can't make the mistake of turning it into "what would happen if the NWO had their own company instead?" and just non stop them going over and over and whatnot.

There's no way the Bucks are a bigger draw than Omega.

Otherwise, yeah, star power is the big issue. But it's still super early. They don't even have their first show for another 14 weeks. Other names could sign. And I wouldn't put it past guys like PAC, Page and MJF (just to name three off the top of my head) that they can become stars organically.

(I am very cautiously optimistic. The creative control issues scare the hell out of me.)

RIP Pedro Morales. https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/ww...ies/ar-BBTvn1z

Man, that's a pretty big name to have gone totally unnoticed in here (by me included) since he died five days ago and it was reported on the same day.

Obviously before my day, so no memories of him to add. By wrestler standards, a death at 76 isn't bad.

True. I just ran into it on Facebook.

Update: Corey Graves has been ****ing Carmella. Carmella has been sending his kids happy birthday videos because they like her so much. His wife is, shall we say, unhappy. He then threatened to sue her for telling the world that he's a piece of ****.

What a scumbag

For some reason I dont see Xpac moving the needle at all

I wish I could believe that Graves was an isolated case, but I'm guessing that the wrestlers who actually do right by their wives are unfortunately pretty rare.

Not a defense of Graves obviously, who seems to indeed be a scumbag. Seeing that story actually just struck me on the point that it's a little surprising we don't see more wrestlers getting dragged by their betrayed spouses.

The way I read it is that WWE was going to sue her?

https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/20...e-star-651010/

It sounds like both he and his wife both have "problems". Maybe the marriage was over before any of this even started? Not sure what to believe and probably don't even care beyond trying to figure out why his kids see Carmella as their role model. That may be the most interesting aspect of this story.

Looking forward to hearing his commentary during her EC match tonight

PAC is the wrestler formerly known as Neville, not Sean Waltman.

Those poor kids. Jesus.

Thatsthejoke.jpg

wrestlers make money and they're on the road most of the year it's not a surprise at all--many probably knew what they signed up for.

That list of dudes is what Lance Storm and some of the Hart Foundation?.

In the WWE, that means they're all heels.

http://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/2...-wwe-hall-fame

It's certainly possible Owen did right by his wife, but Bret has detailed his dalliances at length and has made it clear that Davey messed around on Diana too. I'm not sure the Hart Foundation is where I would look for choir boys.

Anyway, not saying it's surprising that touring celebs are cheating, just that in the age of social media I kind of expect that more burnt spouses might say something.

Roman coming back Monday to update his condition. Assume it has to be good news for him to travel and them to put him on the show.

Would be a fantastic troll if he announced he was replacing an injured Seth against Brock at Mania.

The anticipation. Dean, the guy who turned on Seth the night Roman announced his condition, teaming with Roman when he's leaving after WM. Why?

I'm happy that it sounds as if Roman's doing better but I don't want him back. Seeing him weekly will be awkward and I'll certainly be skipping RAW on Monday to avoid his awkward promo.

I don't get it-- if Roman is actually able to wrestle at WM (or interact in some physical capacity), why tease it now?

Let it be a complete surprise that nite, right?

WWE do not do actual surprise returns anymore - they had the chance for the greatest surprise return of all times when Bryan was cleared but went for an announcement in advance there too.

Yeah, that was so awful.

When's the last time they had one? The Hardy's at WM that year?

Last truly huge one would have to be Shane. Hardys happened since but didn't feel nearly as momentous.

I think Rey Mysterio at Royal Rumble 2018 is pretty high up there as far as surprises go.

Roman's on GMA next Tuesday so I think it's safe to assume that he's going to be wrestling at WM.