Category: Wrestling Musings

All posts related to pro rasslin’ that isn’t covering specific shows or events.

The Forbidden Door Is A Cursed Show

Ever since the AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door show was announced, fans were speculating on all sorts of dream matches that could’ve been booked on this show. And then along came the glutton on injuries and political games that will keep key players from participating. Matches that were written in suddenly found themselves changed around due to the lack of said players.

Instead of CM Punk defending his newly won AEW World Champion against Tanahashi, we’ve got the Ace and Jon Moxley fighting for the interim AEW Title… which basically means whoever wins is just keeping the belt warm until Punk comes back and they can have a match for the “undisputed” title or whatever. Instead of Hangman Page and Okada going at it for the IWGP title, we’re getting a four-way match. Speaking of four ways, we’ve got another one to crown another AEW singles title nobody wanted. A bunch of multi-person tag matches. And a women’s title match between Thunder Rosa defending against Toni Storm, which seems to be tacked on just for the sake of having a women’s match on this show.
Look, I was on the fence about this one before, but the ever-changing card, along with the lackluster build to make this show worthwhile to anyone who doesn’t already have that New Japan hard-on, is making this the first AEW show that I have no qualms about skipping. I’m sure it’ll be a great show with lots of great wrestling, but like I said on the other post, I can get great wrestling just about anywhere these days. If you’re going to convince me to spend $50 on this show, I need more than just the promise of great wrestling. I need a reason to care. And I didn’t get that up to this point.
To all the people watching this show tonight, I hope you all enjoy it and who knows? Maybe somewhere down the road, I’ll give it a shot if I’ve got some cash to spare down the road. Right now, however, I ain’t feeling it and I am more than content to skip out on this one and wait for the All Out PPV come September.

A Quick Note Regarding This Weekend’s Forbidden Door PPV

Well, last night was another edition of AEW Dynamite and by proxy, the go-home show for this weekend’s upcoming Forbidden Door PPV where AEW wrestlers will face off against New Japan wrestlers and a couple titles will be on the line on top of that.

I will not be watching that show.
Here’s the thing. I like the AEW schedule of having four PPVs a year; it makes them feel special. And after years of monthly WWE PPVs with most of them not being worth it, I don’t have the stomach to put up with another minor PPV a month after the last one. But perhaps the one thing that drove me to my decision is the lack of sufficient built towards this show. I watch AEW on a regular basis, but my exposure to New Japan has been extremely limited. I know names, I know faces, but that’s about the extent of it. So I thought that AEW would take the time to introduce some of these names and help the AEW audience unfamiliar with New Japan and give that audience some emotional investment and reason to care about this upcoming Forbidden Door.
I did not get that.
As someone who doesn’t watch New Japan, I didn’t have the handicap of coming up with dream matches and scenarios that more than likely were not going to happen on this first (or possibly only) collaborative PPV. The appeal of such a crossover piqued my curiosity, but that’s about all it did. Naturally, the thought of another PPV so soon after Double Or Nothing gave me pause and while I wasn’t holding lofty expectations for the final card, the one thing I needed – a reason to care enough to buy this show – was the one thing I didn’t get.
No doubt some folks will argue that whatever the card ends up being, it’ll be a great wrestling show and I have no doubt that will be the case. AEW is capable of putting out great wrestling product and New Japan has certainly proven itself more than capable of putting out a wrestling product leagues above its contemporaries. The thing is that we live in an age where we can get good wrestling anywhere and everywhere. There’s plenty of streaming services, plenty of tapes and DVDs floating around out there, and hell, there’s some free good matches you can look up on Youtube that are legally broadcast for the masses to see. I don’t need this show for my fix of good wrestling.
But what I do need is a reason to care, a reason to get invested, a reason to spark that interest that will prompt me to buy this show. A bunch of multi-man matches and two guys competing for the right to keep the AEW World title warm while current champ CM Punk is out of action is not exactly setting my world on fire. And don’t get me started on that whole All Atlantic International World Global Legends Western States Heritage Big Gold Super Heavy Metal Weight World Championship thing.
This is the first AEW PPV that I’ll be skipping and as such, there will be no PPV musings on the show as a result. I’ll find something else to ramble about in its place and if not, we’ll skip a week in this case and we’ll dive into the WCW stuff in July. I doubt I’m going to ruin everyone’s day with this overblown “I’m not watching” announcement, but if someone is wondering where that Forbidden Door musings is at, stop wondering because there isn’t one.
Maybe down the road, I’ll change my tune. But not anytime soon. And if you’re watching the show, I hope you enjoy it. I’ll be doing something else this long weekend.

WWE Moves Money In The Bank B-Show From Stadium To Small Arena

Source: https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/wwe-moving-money-in-the-bank-to-smaller-venue-las-vegas

Due to poor ticket sales a perceived bomb threat from would-be international incidental parties, WWE has opted to move their Money In The Bank B-Show from the larger Reliant Stadium to the much smaller MGM Grand Arena. Best wishes to all the talent who were threatened by this potential terrorist act.
Or maybe save the stadiums for the big shows and not your throwaway gimmick show… and yes, I’m calling Money In The Bank a throwaway gimmick show.
I wonder if they’ll blame Cody for this somehow…

A Note On Kayfabe Commentaries’ Best Of KC Vault Youtube Page

Source: https://www.youtube.com/c/KCVault

Our regularly scheduled program has been postponed to tomorrow afternoon due to last minute editorial changes. Sorry.
In lieu of that, I do want to plug one thing and it’s not my thing; I have nothing to do with it nor am I associated with this in any way, but Kayfabe Commentaries has a Youtube channel called BEST OF THE KC VAULT, where they will upload some of their DVD releases from their catalogue for a limited time sampling that people can watch for free and if they want to check out the rest of their stuff, they can subscribe to the Kayfabe Commentary streaming vault, which I think has their entire library of shoot interviews. I’ve sampled some of their stuff in the past; some folks will put up clips on Youtube, I know I was gifted a couple of the Guest Booker shows converted to MP3 format, which made for a great podcast listen for those long trips.
But I only found out about the channel a short while ago and folks, there is not a product of the shoot variety that I could recommend more than the Kayfabe Commentary stuff. Sean Oliver, the man behind that machine, comes across as animated, personable, and also smart. The kind of host who makes the whole thing feel like a conversation between old friends, even thought it’s not really the case, save for some repeat guests. The Cornette stuff on there is pure fucking gold, the YouShoot with Dixie Carter and Scott Halll were a highlight, and they had the Kevin Nash Guest Booker – Guest Booker being a thing where a booker would be given an alternate scenario – in this case, what if Hall and Nash stayed with WWF in 96 – and how would they book that? And Guest Booker was always fascinating to me because you got to see the minds of wrestling at work, brainstorming this alternate scenario while also giving insights into their booking philosophies as well as some tales from behind the scenes.
I always dug Sean Oliver’s stuff, I somewhat regret not picking up a DVD or two along the way when they were available; most of my exposure to his work was on Youtube; via clips uploaded by unofficial sources, we shall call them. I did buy the audio versions of his two wrestling books; KAYFABE and the BUSINESS OF KAYFABE. Both great reads, great listens too; Sean did a good job with the audio books and they helped me out during a time when I needed the help. I’m glad that there’s a way to sample his stuff and also an easy way to access this stuff with his streaming service, which I might make a point to one of these days subscribe to.
But yeah, BEST OF THE KC VAULT, if you want a cycling sampler of the DVDs he’s produced over the years, I’ve provided a link above and I would highly recommend it. And if you dig it, join the streaming service he has up, send him a couple bucks, and check out stuff that isn’t just variations of one dude asking how big Batista’s dick is… because I know that’s all some people know him as and god knows he’d rather forget that… but he’s making as an author of fiction, so at least he’s keeping busy these days.
Anyway, that was my poor attempt at a plug.

Steiner Bros. Going To The WWE Hall Of Fame

Source: https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/the-steiner-brothers-to-be-inducted-into-wwe-hall-of-fame-2022

Well, it’s appropriate that Hell froze over today because it’s fucking cold out. I wonder if Big Poppa Pump found that physical Hall Of Fame that he says don’t exist. Actually, I’m wondering if we can finally change Bron Breakker’s name to something Steiner-esque.

Seth's Path To Wrestlemania In This Link

Send this link over to Seth Rollins if he wants a sure fire path to Wrestlemania.

It worked for John Cena and he even got a match with the Undertaker.
There are days when I wish I hadn’t retired the WTF label on this blog because what a stupid storyline this is. If I didn’t have a path to Mania, I’d stay the fuck home.

Quick Note On Big E and Scott Hall

We unfortunately have to start the week with a couple donwers.
Last Friday on Smackdown, Big E suffered a horrendous neck injury, taking an overhead suplex and landing right on his head – they say broken neck, which is a bit of a misnomer because a broken neck means you’re dead, but he has a couple fractured discs in his vertebrae and fortunately he doesn’t need surgery, but his prospects for an in-ring future is uncertain because one of those discs is the C1 and when that breaks, you’re dead. So, tough break for the dude. I wish him a speedy recover, I hope for the best. I saw the clip, that sucked, and look, hoping for the best with Big E.
Around that same, Scott Hall was on life support following three heart attacks due to hip surgery having gone wrong and last word, according to Kevin Nash, is that he’ll be taken off life support once the family gets together. So, that’s also sad and I can offer thoughts and prayers to the rest of the family and friends of Scott Hall, who was a man of many demons, but also a man with a great mind for the business, as well as one of the most enduring stars of wrestling’s hottest period. Godspeed, Mr. Hall, and thanks for the memories.
Nothing else to say at this point. Later.

There Goes The Money – Shane McMahon GONE From WWE

Source: https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/shane-mcmahon-out-of-wwe-no-longer-booked-for-future-shows

So, apparently, Shane booked the Rumble and made himself a big deal. People were upset. Booking plans supposedly leaked which included matches against Bobby Lashley, Seth Rollins, and even his being part of that Elimination Chamber match for the WWE title. Yes, 52 year old SHANE MCMAHON competing for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. He probably should’ve waited three years if he wanted to be the old WWE Champion, because Vince won it at 54 in 1999.
Well, none of that is happening, because apparently Shane is gone from WWE… maybe he can go buy WCW or TNA or ROH or something and we can have a big ol’ failed Invasion. Hell, you could bring in Stephanie and she can be the owner of GCW or something.
I tried.