CI Wrestling Thread #56
- Thread starter K-mac18
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It must be some sort of rite of passage to slam wwe once you’ve been released but when it’s convenient they always come back.
Drew came back!
Lashley came back!
Cody came back!
Punk came back!
Naomi came back!
Mickie James came back and her husband came over when no one said he ever would!
Drew came back!
Lashley came back!
Cody came back!
Punk came back!
Naomi came back!
Mickie James came back and her husband came over when no one said he ever would!
Looks like Drew is becoming the new Sami or Miz whose job is to take a pin and make other guys look great.
Pretty clear he’s not in the plans for either of the big belts in WWE. It’s a shame as the guy looks more legit than about anyone else while also having the skills and charisma to carry one of those belts.
Yea lol and then it took a downturn. That's how that works. A year and a half ago they just finished All In and I was excited to see where AEW would go with Cole and MJF.
I disagree. At the time it was the most intriguing thing in wrestling to a large portion of wrestling fans. It turned into something really goofy.
No, it was goofy before that. You forget all the stupid video packages and kangaroo kick shit that led to All In?
I'm sure there are unhappy folks in WWE. The difference is with the exception of Graves and of course Punk back in the day you never hear any talk about it. The minute someone may be unhappy in AEW it gets out almost immediately.
Was a big fan of the DMD when she first started. But as others have said she seems to have gotten worse. I know Mercedes gets a lot of hate but her matches are almost always really good. The exception of course was All In against DMD.
Was a big fan of the DMD when she first started. But as others have said she seems to have gotten worse. I know Mercedes gets a lot of hate but her matches are almost always really good. The exception of course was All In against DMD.
Yea. Shit was fire. I'll never forget Cole fake lifting heavy ass weight at the gym or the launch of the video game where MJF cries about not having any friends. Or MJF at the bar trying to get Cole to cheat on Brit. Funny shit.
The purpose of pro wrestling is to entertain. And that was entertaining.
You'd think but for some the only purpose of wrestling is to put on 17 star anime based matches. Which is part of the reason AEW is dying. Its part of the reason wrestling in general was on life support for so long.
I watched last night the very first PPV event WWF put in in England back in 1989 headlined by Hogan vs Macho.
There was chin locks and other rest holds and ya know what… I didn’t mind it. Matter of fact, kinda missed it.
I get it that now that there’s no curtain to pull over peoples’ eyes ya ain’t gonna act like you’re tryin to choke a dude out for 2 minutes or whatever, but it made it seem more real than somebody doin 10 flips in a match and high spots just for the hell of doin em.
I prefer more psychology and less spots just for the sake of havin somethin to do.
There was chin locks and other rest holds and ya know what… I didn’t mind it. Matter of fact, kinda missed it.
I get it that now that there’s no curtain to pull over peoples’ eyes ya ain’t gonna act like you’re tryin to choke a dude out for 2 minutes or whatever, but it made it seem more real than somebody doin 10 flips in a match and high spots just for the hell of doin em.
I prefer more psychology and less spots just for the sake of havin somethin to do.
Yup and why aew is struggling is in 2025 these things are not entertaining at all…
Mox incoherent rambling promos
Christopher Daniels wrestling
Jericho and his insistence on being relevant on AEW tv
Jeff Jarrett and his “retirement tour”
RE: The HHH is racist thing
Lashley is almost 50, looks great, has the speaking voice of a middle school boy and has always been missing the charisma/verbal abilities of a true WWE top guy.
MVP was a career midcarder who is good on the mic and always meh in the ring. I didn’t want to see MVP wrestle in 2015, much less 2025.
Shelton Benjamin is almost 50 and is what he’s always been - great worker, elite athleticism, charisma of a cardboard cutout
Ricochet: Great high flyer, can do a lot of cool moves, whiny bitch speaking voice no matter heel or babyface, upper midcard is his ceiling in a large promotion. Nobody believes the 5’8, 170-pounder is going to carry a wrestling company.
None of the four are a huge loss and absolutely zero of it is because of their skin color. It’s not like Lashley and Benjamin are 28 years old or Ricochet is out here cutting Austin promos.
But, I guess if booking wrestling is about checking racial boxes, might as well put the big belt on Kofi, give Woods the IC and put tag belts on Street Profits. Maybe Naomi can take one of the women’s midcard belts.
I’m pretty left leaning in general, but this whole manufactured outrage from the AEW camp of “HHH is racist because he doesn’t book enough midcard black guys in top spots” is why many laugh at the left.
Lashley is almost 50, looks great, has the speaking voice of a middle school boy and has always been missing the charisma/verbal abilities of a true WWE top guy.
MVP was a career midcarder who is good on the mic and always meh in the ring. I didn’t want to see MVP wrestle in 2015, much less 2025.
Shelton Benjamin is almost 50 and is what he’s always been - great worker, elite athleticism, charisma of a cardboard cutout
Ricochet: Great high flyer, can do a lot of cool moves, whiny bitch speaking voice no matter heel or babyface, upper midcard is his ceiling in a large promotion. Nobody believes the 5’8, 170-pounder is going to carry a wrestling company.
None of the four are a huge loss and absolutely zero of it is because of their skin color. It’s not like Lashley and Benjamin are 28 years old or Ricochet is out here cutting Austin promos.
But, I guess if booking wrestling is about checking racial boxes, might as well put the big belt on Kofi, give Woods the IC and put tag belts on Street Profits. Maybe Naomi can take one of the women’s midcard belts.
I’m pretty left leaning in general, but this whole manufactured outrage from the AEW camp of “HHH is racist because he doesn’t book enough midcard black guys in top spots” is why many laugh at the left.
Have we all forgotten about that period from AEW's beginnings in 2019 until ~February 2022 when WWE programming bordered on unwatchable, WWE's mass releases of talent during COVID were seen as deplorable, and WWE wrestlers were flowing in only one direction, from WWE to AEW? AEW had strong momentum and WWE was flailing. AEW could keep secrets within (Brody's illness, Malakai's surprise early debut) And WWE was full of leaks. Remember the All Out where Punk had his first match after debuting on the First Dance episode of Rampage, and both Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson debuted? Remember Grand Slam when Danielson and Omega faced each other for the first time? AEW was extremely over.
The first that the tide began to turn was when Cody left. An EVP of AEW jumping ship? That really felt wrong somehow. Then we hear that the locker room is very tense, but everyone is tight-lipped. Then CM Punk drops his Gripe Bomb after All Out. And from there it just starts to degrade, the post-All-In scrum fight, the Andrade/Guevara fracas, you start hearing some guys want to leave, the split roster for Collision, the CM Punk/Perry confrontation, CM Punk's firing.
And during all this time, WWE finally starts to gather interest with the Bloodline storyline, Cody returns from his injury to build into the biggest babyface the industry has seen since Hogan, and then hell freezes over with the return of CM Punk at SS in November 2023.
The pendulum swung, and AEW and WWE traded places. Just like it felt in mid-2021 that AEW could do no wrong and WWE could do no right, it feels today that WWE can do no wrong and AEW can do no right.
Will the pendulum eventually swing back again? Stay tuned.
The first that the tide began to turn was when Cody left. An EVP of AEW jumping ship? That really felt wrong somehow. Then we hear that the locker room is very tense, but everyone is tight-lipped. Then CM Punk drops his Gripe Bomb after All Out. And from there it just starts to degrade, the post-All-In scrum fight, the Andrade/Guevara fracas, you start hearing some guys want to leave, the split roster for Collision, the CM Punk/Perry confrontation, CM Punk's firing.
And during all this time, WWE finally starts to gather interest with the Bloodline storyline, Cody returns from his injury to build into the biggest babyface the industry has seen since Hogan, and then hell freezes over with the return of CM Punk at SS in November 2023.
The pendulum swung, and AEW and WWE traded places. Just like it felt in mid-2021 that AEW could do no wrong and WWE could do no right, it feels today that WWE can do no wrong and AEW can do no right.
Will the pendulum eventually swing back again? Stay tuned.
The MJF/Cole thing was great until it wasn't. Going for the ROH tag titles was dumb as was him doing double duty once Cole got injured. Kangaroo hopping was cringy and something a top guy in his prime shouldn't be doing. The video packages were good until the dodgeball one where MJF pelted kids in their faces, leading them to comedically fall over dead with their tongues out like cartoons. That's bad Jericho comedy. And now we've got Maxwell Dice Clay Friedman over here basically calling Karen Jarrett a whore so I don't know what's going on.
Obviously it's personal taste but I thought the dodgeball one was hilarious. Thought the alligator one was stupid.
Vince getting ousted from power was the worst thing that could have happened to AEW. Even with some of their bad stuff, other than the Bloodline it was still better than what WWE was doing.
Hey let's change topics and get this out there early. Who wants to be in the annual Royal Rumble draw? Ideally we'd have 15 people and everyone gets two entries.
Vince getting ousted from power was the worst thing that could have happened to AEW. Even with some of their bad stuff, other than the Bloodline it was still better than what WWE was doing.
Hey let's change topics and get this out there early. Who wants to be in the annual Royal Rumble draw? Ideally we'd have 15 people and everyone gets two entries.
I want to enter my name in the Royal Rumble. Then I'm going to win and then headline Wrestlemania, where I'll become the World Champion.
Yep, I'm in.
Women's Rumble has barely been built up, whereas the men's is as stacked as it's ever been. Hopefully the leaked sheet from a few weeks ago isn't the real deal. Most can probably pick the correct final four though.
Women's Rumble has barely been built up, whereas the men's is as stacked as it's ever been. Hopefully the leaked sheet from a few weeks ago isn't the real deal. Most can probably pick the correct final four though.
Women’s rumble wasn’t really built up much last year either - I think charlotte wins it regardless.
Men’s rumble is pretty stacked for sure - last year Cody was the obvious winner but this year I think there’s 2-3 legit winners.
Charlotte is the safe pick which is why it probably happens. There's opportunities in the Chamber and also if they do King of the Ring again so I'm hoping her and Cena aren't the Rumble winners. That feels very Vince. Right now I think Drew takes out Reigns, Sami takes out Drew. Final four is Cena, Rollins, Punk, and ?. Can see Sami, Jey, and Fatu all there.
Just watched a very interesting and informative video on YouTube that answered the question better than have heard to date: Why did Cody leave?
Obviously Tony was not offering what Cody thought he was worth to stay in AEW, but it's a bit more than that. There was a Forbes interview near the end of 2021 where Tony Khan took full credit for AEW's success--didn;t mention Cody or give any credit to any of the EVP's. Cody was universally respected in the locker room and was a uniting force during his time there, he preached the mantra not to eat each other because we all need to eat together. The Bucks also spoke in an interview about how important Cody was during formation of AEW. When they needed a Ringside Physician, Cody had the contact and brought him in. When they needed producers, Cody had the contacts and brought them in.
Tony disrespected Cody by not valuing him enough, not only in terms of compensation, but also his leadership and importance in getting AEW off the ground and keeping everyone focused on the same vision. With Cody gone, that uniting force was no longer there, and we all know what happened after that.
Obviously Tony was not offering what Cody thought he was worth to stay in AEW, but it's a bit more than that. There was a Forbes interview near the end of 2021 where Tony Khan took full credit for AEW's success--didn;t mention Cody or give any credit to any of the EVP's. Cody was universally respected in the locker room and was a uniting force during his time there, he preached the mantra not to eat each other because we all need to eat together. The Bucks also spoke in an interview about how important Cody was during formation of AEW. When they needed a Ringside Physician, Cody had the contact and brought him in. When they needed producers, Cody had the contacts and brought them in.
Tony disrespected Cody by not valuing him enough, not only in terms of compensation, but also his leadership and importance in getting AEW off the ground and keeping everyone focused on the same vision. With Cody gone, that uniting force was no longer there, and we all know what happened after that.
There are plenty of black AEW haters that are not at all happy with treatment of black talent in WWE. If you don't want to believe it then keep living under a rock.
Serious question: Which black talents in 2025 WWE are top of the card guys/gals? Or if you were holding the book, which black talents would you elevate to the main event to avoid being called RacistDragon by basement dwellers who watch 30 hours of wrestling a week?
Men:
Carmello? Nope. Maybe in 5 years
Street Profits? Nope. There is potential to build Ford into a singles attraction down the road but the team has to split first. That could leave Dawkins in Janetty land. That would probably be considered racist somehow by the IWC.
R-Truth? Nope. Vince booked him as a comedy character for 14 years. He’s pushing 50 as well. No amount of repackaging can change the fact that R-Truth is perhaps the most lovable class clown in modern wrestling history
Kofi and Woods: Currently involved in a well featured, slow burn heel turn that’s gotten them more heat than anything babyface New Day did for the last 5-7 years. I don’t see how anyone could complain about the spot they’re in. They’re also teasing an eventual return or former WWE champion Big E, likely in a prominent spot.
Women:
Bianca Belair - has held all the women’s world titles multiple times. Was placed in a tag team with a green horn to help carry Jade through their matches. Current women’s tag champ with Naomi.
Naomi - Current WWE women’s tag champ. It likely will be revealed she is the one who attacked Jade. This will be a prominent story in a decent spot.
Jade - Looks great, still needs work in the ring. Has been presented as a star in WWE after being presented as female Goldberg for years in AEW until she wasn’t.
That’s not including several black talents who have prominent roles in NXT (Trick Williams, Oba Femi, Lash Legend/Jakara Jackson, etc.)
I’m still not seeing any racism. It’s not like everyone featured prominently is a white American. Several international talents have prominent spots, Samoans are running the place, Asian and Latino stars are adequately represented.
I get MVP was saying these things, but that dude plays the race card on everything. I used to listen to his VIP Lounge podcast before he went back to WWE. Just about anything in life that didn’t go MVP’s way is because of racism. Eventually, the boy who cries wolf is ignored.
