Category: Wrestling Musings

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

Even With THE ROCK, They Couldn’t Break A Million

Source: https://itrwrestling.com/news/the-rock-helps-wwe-nxt-break-five-year-long-record/

First off, let me stress that 957,000 viewers for NXT is a great number. It’s probably their best number in years and a large part of that is due to Dwayne’s appearance. I haven’t seen the show, but it was a show according to people who did watch the show and Dwayne claimed to be 20 steps ahead of everyone else… which tells me they’re just making this shit up as they go along and hope no one notices.

That having been said, I really thought that maybe – just maybe – they might actually break that magical million number; something that they really haven’t done since AEW’s debut on television back in 2019. Alas, even with the help of THE ROCK, they couldn’t quite get the job done. So maybe – just maybe – AEW has a chance of winning this ratings war with a banger of a show.

Oh, who am I kidding? They’ll probably do the same 500-600k number they’ll always do and tout that as a huge success in wrestling or something.

At Least He’s Happy…

From The Gimmick Attorney’s Twitter Handle

Yeah, there’s going to be jokes a-plenty… but let’s be honest; there have been worse and far stupider names in wrestling than someone shortening their last name to one syllable. Besides, it’s not like we couldn’t have seen this coming… how quickly we forgot that this man was TNT Champion and held the COPE OPEN?

And look at him. He’s happy and gleeful. Why would anyone want to crap on this man’s happiness at this stage in his life? Especially after everything that he’s been through with injuries and the hurricane and all that stuff?

Besides, is it really any dumber of a name than EDGE? EDGE – let’s be honest – is a dumb name… but he made a career out of it, so it worked.

If the man wants to be COPE, let him be COPE.

He’s earned that privilege.

And think of all the jokes you could come up with.

That’s a win-win proposition in my book.

P.S. If he doesn’t have a move called the COPE-ing Mechanism, I will be severely disappointed.

Kevin Is Right, Fou Yucks

Kevin Owens is right.

He tried to dethrone Roman and got screwed for his efforts. He helped others in their fight against Roman and they would end up helping Roman when he was in need. Hell, I was one of those who wanted to see Cody finish his story and he got to do that… but for him to forget all that and agree to teaming with Roman for a tag match… that’s where I draw the line.

Kevin was stabbed in the back for being a nice guy and he has every reason to feel this way. The man stepped aside from the main event circle so others can have his moment – he even started liking TEXAS – and look what happened. He got his match against Cody Rhodes, he gave the man a stunner, and probably would’ve been champion right now if not for the fact that the referee was taking a nap outside.

And then Cody won the match… or I should say, he “won” the match. The Codyverse, it seems, is in full swing. Then Kevin responds by hitting Cody with his signature PACKAGE PILEDRIVER. A move that he hasn’t used in ages. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Even more so, when Kevin picked up the Winged Eagle (yes, they finally brought back the Winged Eagle for a one-night stand) and raised it over his head while standing over the broken American Person, the Long Island crowd showed their approval (and thus their seemingly mythical intelligence) by cheering for this hero of the people who was in the right, who tried to be a nice guy, and got fucked in the ass continually for his efforts.

You know what, folks? I hereby advocate for the finishing of another story. I want to see Kevin Owens win the WWE title that has eluded him for years. I want Kevin Owens to overcome the egotistical American Person and finish his own story that’s been put on hold for years for the benefit of others. I want Kevin Owens to beat that fake blonde haired pretty boy for that title.

And I want to see it happen when RAW moves to Netflix.

Do that and you’ve got a Netflix subscriber for LIFE*.

 

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: May or may not have a Netflix sub for life. Their content is still ass outside of Old Star Trek, Cobra Kai, and the entire run of Sailor Moon Crystal.

NWA Is Running Another Sam Haine Show… Joy…

Pushing today’s scheduled review a day later so that I can share this little gem. Billy Corgan’s NWA (remember them) are doing a Samhain 2 show… no one knows if it’s going to be a PPV or a special edition of their weekly Powerrrrrrrr show that’s on the CW app that nobody uses.

For those who don’t recall, the first Samhain PPV was the show with Sinister Minister James Mitchell’s cocaine line being aired live on PPV. Apparently, this is what prompted CW to go from “Let’s have NWA on our Network” to “Let’s have NXT on our network and… I guess we’ll give Billy a slot on our CW apps. I’m sure he’ll be fine with that.”

I actually did a musings on that show. I remember it being largely terrible… but it did end the terrible NWA World title reign of Brodus “Tyrus” Clay, so that’s one good… thing… I guess?

Here’s the musings for anyone who cares.
NWA Samhain

Five Years Ago… The AEW Promo That Changed Things

From the November 6th, 2019 episode of AEW Dynamite, Cody (not yet Rhodes again) cuts a promo for his upcoming Full Gear 2019 match with then-AEW Champion Chris Jericho stipulating that if he doesn’t win the title, then he will never challenge for said title again. For those who don’t know, Cody would lose said match against Jericho and would never get another shot at the AEW World title ever again.

It’d be a stretch to say that this promo “changed things.” At the time, Cody was simply trying to avoid the pitfalls of management putting themselves in hot angles. Jeff Jarrett as NWA Champion in TNA when he owned the company comes to mind. HHH as multiple time WWE Champion and getting favorable treatment after marrying into the family. Just about any mom-and-pop promotion who opts to book family as the top stars because you know they’re never leaving… allegedly. So this is Cody eliminating himself from that discussion and he’d go on to have a decent TNT title run before things fell off the wayside for a variety of reasons.

Cut to a few years later and Cody Rhodes left AEW for WWE. And despite a couple hiccups here or there, Cody’s WWE run FAR eclipsed anything he was doing in AEW. He even got to win the WWE title and finish that story.

Would any of this have been possible had Cody not cut this promo? Perhaps… perhaps things would’ve turned out the same and Cody still would’ve left for WWE to bring about a new era to that promotion (among other factors, of course.) But considering that the Young Bucks have had multiple tag-team runs and even Kenny Omega got a decent AEW World title run to his credit… maybe Cody jumped the gun in this case.

Rewatching this promo after everything that has happened… one of the comments said it best; this does hit differently now with hindsight in mind.

Daniel Bryan Danielson’s Done Full Time… Eh…

Last Saturday, Bryan Danielson wrestled his last match as a full-time wrestler at the AEW Wrestledream PPV, dropping the AEW World title to Jon Moxley, who is now a 4-time AEW World Champion. And then he got bagged and stretchered out in his home state. I haven’t seen the show, but heard that the ending was a bit of a downer. I honestly believed that’s how Bryan would have wanted it anyway.

Anyway, it’s been a fun ride (minus a couple years on the sidelines), but all good things must come to an end. This isn’t a full-on retirement for Danielson – I’m sure he’ll do spot matches here and there, but as far as being a regular, those days have come to an end.

On the bright side, Justin Roberts can rest easy, knowing that the looming threat of Daniel Bryan Danielson choking him out with his own tie is long gone… unless he’s passed that gimmick over to Mox, then he’s fucked.

Thanks for the memories, Bryan. Take good care of yourself. And enjoy the hemp.

That’s all I’ve got. Bye.

 

Hurricanes, Impacts, And Other Bits And Bobs

To anyone affected by the Hurricane Helene, my thoughts and prayers are with you. I wish I could offer more, but this is all I have. Other people has means of helping.

Naturally, there was no Impact show last night due to TNA cancelling tapings in the area; instead, they aired a Best Of Bound For Glory show. I have it on DVR; I might give it a watch as an aside, but not expecting much.

Apparently, WWE’s Bad Blood PPV is this weekend, featuring CM Punk and Drew McIntyre going at it in a Cell of some kind. Also, Cody and Roman will team up against Solo and one of the Fatu boys. If I’ve got absolutely nothing better to do, I might give this a watch, but don’t expect a musings of any kind unless I’ve got nothing better to do… that sounds more convoluted than it should be.

AEW and WBD signed a new five year deal. Rampage is no longer a thing and PPVs will now be on MAX for discounted prices to MAX subscribers. Meanwhile, there’s a Wrestledream show in a couple weeks featuring Danielson and Mox going at it. Not watching it live, but if a certain someone decides to show up, the replay might be worth pursuing.

And of course, there’s the Bound For Glory show at the end of the month. There might be a surprise or two on the short stretch of PPV Musings in the last couple months of 2024, but nothing out of the ordinary. We’ll see.

In non-wrestling related news, I did a head count on my game collection listing and apparently, I’m about forty games away from hitting the big 2,000. Never did I think that I would hit that many games over a decade ago when I hit 1,000 and I figured… “Yeah, this is enough.” I want to say that once I hit 2,000, that’ll be enough… but now I know better. It’s like the old saying, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”

Also, the dog is sleeping. She rarely sleeps. It’s amazing.

Speaking of which… I’m going to bed.

New video later.

Bye.

Armed Anderson’s Glock Is Three Years Old

Three years ago, on this very day, Arn Anderson cut one of his most memeworthy promos on AEW television. Wrestling fans of an older generation know him as the Enforcer of the Four Horseman, constant associate of “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, and a hell of a wrestler in his own right. But to a new generation of fans, he’s the guy who threatened to pull out a gun and spill Cody’s brains all over the concrete in an effort to motivate the bastard.

Hey, it took about three years, but he finally got through.

Now, he’s ready for the Rock at Mania… or maybe Jacob Fatu… probably even Zilla…

Just don’t give us another Solo match. The math simply doesn’t work.