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The longer 🤡 holds the heavyweight belt, the more the belt’s value plummets day by day.

Really needed Punk to hold it for a while
Now we're gonna get a 4 Way so he can f**k Punk and LA, have Uso take the pin and prolong this s**tty title reign that NOBODY ASKED FOR!
 
Now we're gonna get a 4 Way so he can f**k Punk and LA, have Uso take the pin and prolong this s**tty title reign that NOBODY ASKED FOR!
Notice how his buffoon stepdad h talked about when something becomes predictable you have to pivot like a complete moron- but doesn’t want to use his dumb**** theory here because he doesn’t want to upset his kid’s boring and PREDICTABLE title reign.
 
Notice how his buffoon stepdad h talked about when something becomes predictable you have to pivot like a complete moron- but doesn’t want to use his dumb**** theory here because he doesn’t want to upset his kid’s boring and PREDICTABLE title reign.
He's a hypocrite and a liar so I can't trust anything he says anyway. Everything that comes out of his mouth is for completely self-serving purposes. Nobody gave a rat's a$$ about Rollins as a babyface when he had the belt the last time, and nobody gives a rat's a$$ about him now as heel.
 
He's a hypocrite and a liar so I can't trust anything he says anyway. Everything that comes out of his mouth is for completely self-serving purposes. Nobody gave a rat's a$$ about Rollins as a babyface when he had the belt the last time, and nobody gives a rat's a$$ about him now as heel.
Balor needs to hold the title. The guy has been a workhorse for since coming back from injury in 2017. Wrestles every week. Gives his best with whatever stupid stuff he's given. Hopefully the next time people are released, trips and his team are included.
 
7 singles matches, they feuded in 2018/2019 for the title when Bryan turned heel, I remember because I was at the show a week before AJ dropped the title, but imo that match during covid was their best, although may need to see the blow-off at TLC again.
I remember the triology when AJ dropped the title when Bryan turned heel midmatch. The rematch. And the one when Rowan interfered. And then the clip you shared was 2 years later during the pandemic when Bryan was the face and AJ the heel. Wonderful chemistry.
 
What makes you think Jey will take the pin. It's gonna be another burial of LA Knight
Because there is a significant portion of the fans who have been pushing for LA Knight to be booked better, for a while now. And Uso seems to have fallen out of favor with H. I can see LA taking the pin too, but I think they will throw Jey under the bus to give LA an out.
 
7 singles matches, they feuded in 2018/2019 for the title when Bryan turned heel, I remember because I was at the show a week before AJ dropped the title, but imo that match during covid was their best, although may need to see the blow-off at TLC again.
Yup I agree. The TLC match was great too, but I think this was better. The only match of theirs that didn't click for me was the one they had at Royal Rumble.
 
Balor needs to hold the title. The guy has been a workhorse for since coming back from injury in 2017. Wrestles every week. Gives his best with whatever stupid stuff he's given. Hopefully the next time people are released, trips and his team are included.
I'm not sure if Balor means anything at his point considering the way he has been booked for the past few years. The best opportunity to put the belt on him was the feud with Rollins a couple of years ago, but H beat him like a government mule, like he beats everyone else standing in his son's path.
 
Not taht it means anything in the larger scheme of things, but I really enjoyed the segment between LA Knight and CM Punk to start off RAW. I thought both guys came off really well. Two babyfaces who happen to be in each other's path because they both want the same thing. Punk is known to be great on the mic, but I was really impressed by how well LA held his own against him.

Also, is Bronson Reed wearing Roman's smelly shoes around his neck supposed to make him a bada$$? It feels so lame and forced. I chuckled when LA called him a walking foot-locker lol.
 
I'm not sure if Balor means anything at his point considering the way he has been booked for the past few years. The best opportunity to put the belt on him was the feud with Rollins a couple of years ago, but H beat him like a government mule, like he beats everyone else standing in his son's path.
yup he should have won it then. rollins didn't have any business holding the title till mania and be featured in cody-roman feud.
 
Because there is a significant portion of the fans who have been pushing for LA Knight to be booked better, for a while now. And Uso seems to have fallen out of favor with H. I can see LA taking the pin too, but I think they will throw Jey under the bus to give LA an out.
they're just going to keep running the feud with jey punk and knight till roman comes back for survivor series. we'll probably gonna get seth vs roman for title at next mania aren't we?
 
Yup I agree. The TLC match was great too, but I think this was better. The only match of theirs that didn't click for me was the one they had at Royal Rumble.

The Covid one was special because it was a love letter to all those who supported them in the 2000’s and they worked a more refined version of the ROH matches they used to have, being a tad older.
 
they're just going to keep running the feud with jey punk and knight till roman comes back for survivor series. we'll probably gonna get seth vs roman for title at next mania aren't we?
I think Roman will be back for Clash in Paris. They have been heavily teasing a match between him and Bronson Reed.

At Survivor Series we might get a WarGames match with the babyfaces on one side and Rollins's group and a few other heels on the other side.

Hopefully no Roman v Seth for the belt. I also don't think they need the belt to have a match at WrestleMania. Infact it would work better if Roman costs him the belt in the run-up to Mania, because both these guys have been champion for too long. Seth maybe hasn't been champion for that long but it feels like an eternity. The World title picture at Mania should revolve around Punk or Sami Zayn.
 
I think Roman will be back for Clash in Paris. They have been heavily teasing a match between him and Bronson Reed.

At Survivor Series we might get a WarGames match with the babyfaces on one side and Rollins's group and a few other heels on the other side.

Hopefully no Roman v Seth for the belt. I also don't think they need the belt to have a match at WrestleMania. Infact it would work better if Roman costs him the belt in the run-up to Mania, because both these guys have been champion for too long. Seth maybe hasn't been champion for that long but it feels like an eternity. The World title picture at Mania should revolve around Punk or Sami Zayn.
Hopefully Seth loses the title much earlier than that.
 
I think Roman will be back for Clash in Paris. They have been heavily teasing a match between him and Bronson Reed.

At Survivor Series we might get a WarGames match with the babyfaces on one side and Rollins's group and a few other heels on the other side.

Hopefully no Roman v Seth for the belt. I also don't think they need the belt to have a match at WrestleMania. Infact it would work better if Roman costs him the belt in the run-up to Mania, because both these guys have been champion for too long. Seth maybe hasn't been champion for that long but it feels like an eternity. The World title picture at Mania should revolve around Punk or Sami Zayn.
Bronson isn't really that big of a deal.
Jacob Fatu needs to be in good storyline now. Speaking of that, seems like Hunter has just signed Hikuleo to interfere in Jacobs matches rather than having him wrestle.
 
Bronson isn't really that big of a deal.
Jacob Fatu needs to be in good storyline now. Speaking of that, seems like Hunter has just signed Hikuleo to interfere in Jacobs matches rather than having him wrestle.
This whole Temu Bloodline storyline sucks if you ask me. I have zero interest in this. Every match ends in a B.S DQ finish with these guys interfering. He just had Hikuleo and Jeff Cobb beat the Motor City Machine Guns in a matter of minutes on SD the other day. Talk about disrespect. MCMG are one of the most decorated tag teams of the modern era and they have been booked like chumps, and as just another one of the tag teams in the division. Meanwhile Hikuleo is surely one of the worst wrestlers to be presented on live WWE TV since Omos. Rather than having him properly trained he is being put in matches where he will get badly exposed.

Triple H couldn't book tag team wrestling if his life depended on it. It's embarrassing honestly. First he completely dropped the ball with the New Day heel turn and now he thinks that booking car crash ladder matches will make up for the fact that he doesn't have the brains or aptitude to understand tag team wrestling, let alone know how to book it.
 
This whole Temu Bloodline storyline sucks if you ask me. I have zero interest in this. Every match ends in a B.S DQ finish with these guys interfering. He just had Hikuleo and Jeff Cobb beat the Motor City Machine Guns in a matter of minutes on SD the other day. Talk about disrespect. MCMG are one of the most decorated tag teams of the modern era and they have been booked like chumps, and as just another one of the tag teams in the division. Meanwhile Hikuleo is surely one of the worst wrestlers to be presented on live WWE TV since Omos. Rather than having him properly trained he is being put in matches where he will get badly exposed.

Triple H couldn't book tag team wrestling if his life depended on it. It's embarrassing honestly. First he completely dropped the ball with the New Day heel turn and now he thinks that booking car crash ladder matches will make up for the fact that he doesn't have the brains or aptitude to understand tag team wrestling, let alone know how to book it.
Everything is nosediving. Hopefully Hunter will be shown the door by Mania.
 
I wouldn't bet on it. A master ̶p̶o̶l̶i̶t̶i̶c̶i̶a̶n̶ a$$-kisser like him and probably established good relationships with all his corporate overlords
He doesn't have much leverage now. Steph doesn't hold any position in WWE. Vince doesn't associate with him. The corporates only understand money and profits. The best he can do is get his team fired while holding on to his position but that charade won't work everytime.
 
He doesn't have much leverage now. Steph doesn't hold any position in WWE. Vince doesn't associate with him. The corporates only understand money and profits. The best he can do is get his team fired while holding on to his position but that charade won't work everytime.
Yeah but that's the thing, they are still doing great business. For him to be shown the door business would have to go down in a significant way. Which I'm surprised hasn't happened yet, considering how bad everything is creatively and how much they have jacked up the ticket prices. I really think of their hardcore fanbase are sheep, who will pay exorbitant amounts of money just to be part of the 'WWE experience', no matter what they get.
 
I really enjoyed that feud, their match at MITB was special
For me the SummerSlam match was the best one. Closely followed by the one they had at Royal Rumble. The match they had at SummerSlam is one of the best wrestling matches of the last 25 years for me.

Still this video is really funny.
 
I hate this guy for wasting his talent, he is light years ahead of Seth Rollins, imagine a disciplined & professional Moxley/Ambrose willing to carry the strap in that position…..
I agree. I was such a big fan of him. Especially during the early years of AEW where he felt like he had finally become the fully realized version of who he should have always been. Even till 2022 I felt he was doing good work. There was that feud with Punk and matches with Jericho and Bryan that were really good.

In the last couple of years though he has just completely gone off the deep end. Given in to all his worst instincts and become a completely unprofessional POS.

Such a shame. So much talent down the drain.
 
Not sure if I agree with him because Hogan was getting booed out of that building no matter what they did. But it is amusing to see him completely bury Triple H

I know Vince is nearly 80, but he looks horrible. It seems that he has had way too much plastic surgery.

Even Vince realises how bad his son-in-law is, but sadly, he can't do anything about it, due to his own poor decisions in life. It must kill Vince to see Triple H destroy his 40 years of hard work.
 
I know Vince is nearly 80, but he looks horrible. It seems that he has had way too much plastic surgery.

Even Vince realises how bad his son-in-law is, but sadly, he can't do anything about it, due to his own poor decisions in life. It must kill Vince to see Triple H destroy his 40 years of hard work.
He looks like someone reanimated a mannequin. His lips move but I'm not sure if his face does. He has notoriously been obsessed with his physical appearance going back to his prime years when he was hitting those steroids just like the boys, so it doesn't surprise me that he would go for multiple plastic surgeries too. I guess he can take some comfort in the fact that he doesn't look as bad as his ex-wife Linda lol.

Keeping in mind everything I have read about Vince he is probably more pi$$ed watching this show than all of us combined.
 
This would be pretty lame if true. Cena deserves to have his retirement match on a special PLE, centred completely around him...not a match on a show that has like 90 commercials between the matches.

I mean who is he? Goldberg or something?

Treat the guy with some respect.

Knowing WWE and what a bunch of money-grubbing ***** they are, they will probably go for this if NBC throws enough money at them

 
It's Meltzer so you ought to take it with a grain or salt, but let's assume it's true. And it's not that farfetched tbh.

No matter what you may think of AEW this is a net negative for wrestling. Already WWE is not being held accountable for the bad booking and bad creative that has been bad going all the way back to January. Imagine if we go back to a pre-2019 situation where they are a monopoly with complete power. Despite all it's negatives, AEW still is an alternative for alot of fans, even if it's not really a great product itself.

WWE has already turned TNA into a WWE satellite promotion. Both the TNA World titles are held by NXT wrestlers, and have been for quite some time now. Yes, it gives them more exposure but at what cost? It makes your roster look like a bunch of chumps. Also its a damning indictment of you as a business if you need wrestlers from other companies to come in just to increase buzz around your company.


This is WWE's plan. Gobble up as many promotions as you can all over the world and eliminate any and all competition so fans have no choice but to accept your product. Wrestlers have no choice but to do what YOU tell them to do. They have bought AAA. TNA is already beholden to them. I think they will try to buy a promotion in Japan next. Possibly AJPW or Pro Wrestling NOAH.
 
It's Meltzer so you ought to take it with a grain or salt, but let's assume it's true. And it's not that farfetched tbh.

No matter what you may think of AEW this is a net negative for wrestling. Already WWE is not being held accountable for the bad booking and bad creative that has been bad going all the way back to January. Imagine if we go back to a pre-2019 situation where they are a monopoly with complete power. Despite all it's negatives, AEW still is an alternative for alot of fans, even if it's not really a great product itself.

WWE has already turned TNA into a WWE satellite promotion. Both the TNA World titles are held by NXT wrestlers, and have been for quite some time now. Yes, it gives them more exposure but at what cost? It makes your roster look like a bunch of chumps. Also its a damning indictment of you as a business if you need wrestlers from other companies to come in just to increase buzz around your company.


This is WWE's plan. Gobble up as many promotions as you can all over the world and eliminate any and all competition so fans have no choice but to accept your product. Wrestlers have no choice but to do what YOU tell them to do. They have bought AAA. TNA is already beholden to them. I think they will try to buy a promotion in Japan next. Possibly AJPW or Pro Wrestling NOAH.
This guy continues to grow his sphere of influence to cause havoc in as many wrestling spheres as possible for his ego…

Was watching Vince crash out at H whenever Hogan was making a reappearance at wwe and Vince was mad at how dull and boring H made the comeback entrance of such a big legend. Bland, boring and lifeless.

Probably regrets not giving the torch to Shane instead of this talentless politician hack
 
This guy continues to grow his sphere of influence to cause havoc in as many wrestling spheres as possible for his ego…

Was watching Vince crash out at H whenever Hogan was making a reappearance at wwe and Vince was mad at how dull and boring H made the comeback entrance of such a big legend. Bland, boring and lifeless.

Probably regrets not giving the torch to Shane instead of this talentless politician hack
Yup, one of the biggest mistakes Vince ever made was not trusting Shane.
 
It's Meltzer so you ought to take it with a grain or salt, but let's assume it's true. And it's not that farfetched tbh.

No matter what you may think of AEW this is a net negative for wrestling. Already WWE is not being held accountable for the bad booking and bad creative that has been bad going all the way back to January. Imagine if we go back to a pre-2019 situation where they are a monopoly with complete power. Despite all it's negatives, AEW still is an alternative for alot of fans, even if it's not really a great product itself.

WWE has already turned TNA into a WWE satellite promotion. Both the TNA World titles are held by NXT wrestlers, and have been for quite some time now. Yes, it gives them more exposure but at what cost? It makes your roster look like a bunch of chumps. Also its a damning indictment of you as a business if you need wrestlers from other companies to come in just to increase buzz around your company.


This is WWE's plan. Gobble up as many promotions as you can all over the world and eliminate any and all competition so fans have no choice but to accept your product. Wrestlers have no choice but to do what YOU tell them to do. They have bought AAA. TNA is already beholden to them. I think they will try to buy a promotion in Japan next. Possibly AJPW or Pro Wrestling NOAH.
It's sad to see what TNA has become. I miss the glory days of TNA between 2004-2009.
 
This would be pretty lame if true. Cena deserves to have his retirement match on a special PLE, centred completely around him...not a match on a show that has like 90 commercials between the matches.

I mean who is he? Goldberg or something?

Treat the guy with some respect.

Knowing WWE and what a bunch of money-grubbing ***** they are, they will probably go for this if NBC throws enough money at them

Since the geniuses didn't have Cena show up at his hometown during his retirement tour, think that's the least they could do. But they need to make a PPV centered around it. SNME needs to go. There's no point of that forgettably booked show every 3 months.
 
This guy continues to grow his sphere of influence to cause havoc in as many wrestling spheres as possible for his ego…

Was watching Vince crash out at H whenever Hogan was making a reappearance at wwe and Vince was mad at how dull and boring H made the comeback entrance of such a big legend. Bland, boring and lifeless.

Probably regrets not giving the torch to Shane instead of this talentless politician hack
Found out they show a triple show titantron during the commercial break live. He's such a cockroach.
 
It's Meltzer so you ought to take it with a grain or salt, but let's assume it's true. And it's not that farfetched tbh.

No matter what you may think of AEW this is a net negative for wrestling. Already WWE is not being held accountable for the bad booking and bad creative that has been bad going all the way back to January. Imagine if we go back to a pre-2019 situation where they are a monopoly with complete power. Despite all it's negatives, AEW still is an alternative for alot of fans, even if it's not really a great product itself.

WWE has already turned TNA into a WWE satellite promotion. Both the TNA World titles are held by NXT wrestlers, and have been for quite some time now. Yes, it gives them more exposure but at what cost? It makes your roster look like a bunch of chumps. Also its a damning indictment of you as a business if you need wrestlers from other companies to come in just to increase buzz around your company.


This is WWE's plan. Gobble up as many promotions as you can all over the world and eliminate any and all competition so fans have no choice but to accept your product. Wrestlers have no choice but to do what YOU tell them to do. They have bought AAA. TNA is already beholden to them. I think they will try to buy a promotion in Japan next. Possibly AJPW or Pro Wrestling NOAH.

WWE have done what they’ve always done when it comes to their rivals who want to compete with them on a relatively similar platform. But for me, AEW has done far more damage to the wrestling industry in the last decade, they gobbled up my beloved independent scene which even the WWE did not try and eat-up, yes, some of the high profile independent stars ended up working for WWE but that was fine, because it didn’t take away from the likes of ROH & their own development system and fan base, they may have lost a Punk or a Bryan but there was always someone else who was going come through their system having been inspired by the golden generation.

Right now, unless you work for Tony, there are no options for you on the indie circuit besides outlaw mud-shows which are cancerous for our future. AEW has no real development system in place, it’s incoherent, illogical from a purists POV and they don’t truly have a defined style & rely heavily on shock value from a very small portion of wrestling fans. AEW is not a place where the next AJ Styles will look to join & hone his craft in the dark and break-out as the next big star regardless off who he is employed by, but it’s a place where you go to make a few quid because there are few options or if you’re a name, you go there to get your pension. So I will always hate AEW with a passion & not just for the Punk stuff, for what they’ve done to ROH, FTR & The Briscoe’s masked the damage Tony had done; ROH will never capture the authentic it once had.

And don’t get me started on Japan, NJPW has been struggling severely in recent times through their working arrangement with AEW, the money might have been nice but it has done long term damage to their business, NJPW was once selling out MSG & attracted vast swathes of the western audience which was unheard of for many years, they are completely irrelevant right now & thank TK for that.

So if they or other Japanese companies are thinking outside the box, I can’t blame them, this is another consequence of TK killing the independents who had good relationships with Japan. Right now, in the west, you either go into business with AEW or WWE, I know which devil I’d like to the shake hands with when it comes to the long term growth of my company.

TNA are going through a purple patch right now, from their presentation, consistency and general marketing initiatives, if they or as AAA have already done, agree terms with WWE, it’s going to bring more eyeballs to their business. In 2025 we saw AJ return to TNA, I never had that on my bucket list, they still have that ability to attract innovative talent due to their legacy & have managed to find a way to get their top stars positioned to get over for a wider audience. This is as good as it’s going to get for a promotion we loved in the 2000’s, there’s not more I can ask or criticise what their product is today, they’ve been smart and have not removed their loyal fans completely from their agenda. In-fact, I’d personally be open to it, say TNA was on Netflix, it’s easier for me to watch, and I can assure you they have a big global audience. What else should TNA do, join hands with AEW and watch their business go to the gutters like whoever else that company works with? And from that AAA show I watched, there’s hope it’s not going to turn into another RAW or SD.

Bro, AEW are not the saviours we thought they were going to be, I hate TKO in general, but all these shifts in the wrestling landscape have happened when AEW joined the party; they’ve made this a two horse race and don’t offer a competitive alternative either which has made matters worse.
 
WWE have done what they’ve always done when it comes to their rivals who want to compete with them on a relatively similar platform. But for me, AEW has done far more damage to the wrestling industry in the last decade, they gobbled up my beloved independent scene which even the WWE did not try and eat-up, yes, some of the high profile independent stars ended up working for WWE but that was fine, because it didn’t take away from the likes of ROH & their own development system and fan base, they may have lost a Punk or a Bryan but there was always someone else who was going come through their system having been inspired by the golden generation.

Right now, unless you work for Tony, there are no options for you on the indie circuit besides outlaw mud-shows which are cancerous for our future. AEW has no real development system in place, it’s incoherent, illogical from a purists POV and they don’t truly have a defined style & rely heavily on shock value from a very small portion of wrestling fans. AEW is not a place where the next AJ Styles will look to join & hone his craft in the dark and break-out as the next big star regardless off who he is employed by, but it’s a place where you go to make a few quid because there are few options or if you’re a name, you go there to get your pension. So I will always hate AEW with a passion & not just for the Punk stuff, for what they’ve done to ROH, FTR & The Briscoe’s masked the damage Tony had done; ROH will never capture the authentic it once had.

And don’t get me started on Japan, NJPW has been struggling severely in recent times through their working arrangement with AEW, the money might have been nice but it has done long term damage to their business, NJPW was once selling out MSG & attracted vast swathes of the western audience which was unheard of for many years, they are completely irrelevant right now & thank TK for that.

So if they or other Japanese companies are thinking outside the box, I can’t blame them, this is another consequence of TK killing the independents who had good relationships with Japan. Right now, in the west, you either go into business with AEW or WWE, I know which devil I’d like to the shake hands with when it comes to the long term growth of my company.

TNA are going through a purple patch right now, from their presentation, consistency and general marketing initiatives, if they or as AAA have already done, agree terms with WWE, it’s going to bring more eyeballs to their business. In 2025 we saw AJ return to TNA, I never had that on my bucket list, they still have that ability to attract innovative talent due to their legacy & have managed to find a way to get their top stars positioned to get over for a wider audience. This is as good as it’s going to get for a promotion we loved in the 2000’s, there’s not more I can ask or criticise what their product is today, they’ve been smart and have not removed their loyal fans completely from their agenda. In-fact, I’d personally be open to it, say TNA was on Netflix, it’s easier for me to watch, and I can assure you they have a big global audience. What else should TNA do, join hands with AEW and watch their business go to the gutters like whoever else that company works with? And from that AAA show I watched, there’s hope it’s not going to turn into another RAW or SD.

Bro, AEW are not the saviours we thought they were going to be, I hate TKO in general, but all these shifts in the wrestling landscape have happened when AEW joined the party; they’ve made this a two horse race and don’t offer a competitive alternative either which has made matters worse.
I don't consider AEW to be the saviors, but I also don't agree that AEW has done nearly as much damage to wrestling as WWE. For one thing, I would argue that the indie scene was already pretty dead. It's well-documented that ROH was on the verge of bankruptcy in the aftermath of the pandemic. All Tony essentially did was put them out of their misery. I am 100% sure that had Tony not bought ROH, this current TKO regime would have. I don't consider GCW and PWG to be serious promotions. NWA and MLW have had their rosters raided by both WWE and AEW.

As for Japan, you could argue that Tony put the final nail in NJPW's coffin, but let's be honest, the peak of NJPW that started in 2014-15 ended long before Tony started raiding their roster. They too were badly hit by the pandemic. The reality is that Japan is simply not lucrative as a territory anymore (hasn't been for a long time) and all the guys who were part of their most recent peak like: Tanahashi, Okada, Omega, Ibushi, Nakamura, Tanahashi, Takagi etc. are all too old now, and they have done nothing to establish new stars. Jay White and Will Ospreay are the only two guys you can say could have carried their company, that AEW stole. But that still doesn't excuse the fact that they have done nothing to establish home-grown guys to take the mantle. The ones they did try to establish like Sanada and Shota Umino have been completely rejected by the fans.

Fact is, no matter what you may think of AEW, it offers an alternative to the WWE. They do have big stars and above all, it's a place where wrestlers can go and make good money if they get fired by WWE, or if things don't work out in the Fed. That for me is a net positive. And regardless of what you may think of their product, the reality is that they do service their hardcore fanbase, and don't try to rob their fans blind by jacking up the ticket prices, which is not something I can say about WWE. In a scenario where AEW does not exist, what's to stop WWE for charging even more exorbitant ticket prices?

I'm glad you are enjoying TNA but to someone like me, who doesn't watch it, there is absolutely nothing appealing about seeing NXT wrestlers coming on their show, winning their main belts and beating their all top guys. It makes them look minor league, and as I said, a WWE satellite promotion. Plus, it's not like TNA can offer guys the same amount of money that AEW or WWE can. Their audience size is too small. And with this new partnership with WWE, it seems like WWE has every intention of using them to get their NXT guys over, rather than help TNA in any meaningful way, besides giving them some money, that still won't really change their financial state for the long-term. Because if WWE were to pull these NXT guys tomorrow, they would go back to being where they were.

What WWE is doing is trying to right now is basically kill the competition. The funny thing is that AEW is not even big enough to challenge WWE. Like, there is no reason why both companies can't peacefully co-exist. But WWE is not even okay with that. They are actively trying to gobble up promotions so AEW can't get talent from anywhere else. They are now starting to run their PLEs on the same nights as AEW's PPVs to hurt their PPV revenue stream. And it's not like this is even a fair fight considering WWE already has a captive audience who have either subscribe to Netflix or Peacock, while AEW is selling a PPV. Even if you forget the predatory business practice side, the idea of All Out and Bad Blood being on the same night pi$$es me off as a wrestling fan, because I can't watch 8 hours of wrestling on the same night. And there are plenty of other wrestling fans like me who watch wrestling from both promotions.

What WWE is starting to do is simply bad for wrestling. And the ironic thing is that they are doing this at a time when the product is arguably at the lowest point it has been in years. So you can't even say that they are giving the fans something good.
 
Since the geniuses didn't have Cena show up at his hometown during his retirement tour, think that's the least they could do. But they need to make a PPV centered around it. SNME needs to go. There's no point of that forgettably booked show every 3 months.
SNME always has 2-3 potentially good matches that I end up seeing like 5 mins of because they run an endless amount of commercials in-between
 
I don't consider AEW to be the saviors, but I also don't agree that AEW has done nearly as much damage to wrestling as WWE. For one thing, I would argue that the indie scene was already pretty dead. It's well-documented that ROH was on the verge of bankruptcy in the aftermath of the pandemic. All Tony essentially did was put them out of their misery. I am 100% sure that had Tony not bought ROH, this current TKO regime would have. I don't consider GCW and PWG to be serious promotions. NWA and MLW have had their rosters raided by both WWE and AEW.

As for Japan, you could argue that Tony put the final nail in NJPW's coffin, but let's be honest, the peak of NJPW that started in 2014-15 ended long before Tony started raiding their roster. They too were badly hit by the pandemic. The reality is that Japan is simply not lucrative as a territory anymore (hasn't been for a long time) and all the guys who were part of their most recent peak like: Tanahashi, Okada, Omega, Ibushi, Nakamura, Tanahashi, Takagi etc. are all too old now, and they have done nothing to establish new stars. Jay White and Will Ospreay are the only two guys you can say could have carried their company, that AEW stole. But that still doesn't excuse the fact that they have done nothing to establish home-grown guys to take the mantle. The ones they did try to establish like Sanada and Shota Umino have been completely rejected by the fans.

Fact is, no matter what you may think of AEW, it offers an alternative to the WWE. They do have big stars and above all, it's a place where wrestlers can go and make good money if they get fired by WWE, or if things don't work out in the Fed. That for me is a net positive. And regardless of what you may think of their product, the reality is that they do service their hardcore fanbase, and don't try to rob their fans blind by jacking up the ticket prices, which is not something I can say about WWE. In a scenario where AEW does not exist, what's to stop WWE for charging even more exorbitant ticket prices?

I'm glad you are enjoying TNA but to someone like me, who doesn't watch it, there is absolutely nothing appealing about seeing NXT wrestlers coming on their show, winning their main belts and beating their all top guys. It makes them look minor league, and as I said, a WWE satellite promotion. Plus, it's not like TNA can offer guys the same amount of money that AEW or WWE can. Their audience size is too small. And with this new partnership with WWE, it seems like WWE has every intention of using them to get their NXT guys over, rather than help TNA in any meaningful way, besides giving them some money, that still won't really change their financial state for the long-term. Because if WWE were to pull these NXT guys tomorrow, they would go back to being where they were.

What WWE is doing is trying to right now is basically kill the competition. The funny thing is that AEW is not even big enough to challenge WWE. Like, there is no reason why both companies can't peacefully co-exist. But WWE is not even okay with that. They are actively trying to gobble up promotions so AEW can't get talent from anywhere else. They are now starting to run their PLEs on the same nights as AEW's PPVs to hurt their PPV revenue stream. And it's not like this is even a fair fight considering WWE already has a captive audience who have either subscribe to Netflix or Peacock, while AEW is selling a PPV. Even if you forget the predatory business practice side, the idea of All Out and Bad Blood being on the same night pi$$es me off as a wrestling fan, because I can't watch 8 hours of wrestling on the same night. And there are plenty of other wrestling fans like me who watch wrestling from both promotions.

What WWE is starting to do is simply bad for wrestling. And the ironic thing is that they are doing this at a time when the product is arguably at the lowest point it has been in years. So you can't even say that they are giving the fans something good.

AEW have without a doubt have caused more damage this century to anything remotely considered an alternative, for one through their own sh!t show which isn’t a net positive unless you want to work there yourself, no big time network will ever consider wrestling so seriously again so you can’t really quantify the damage they’ve done. AEW is doing a service only to a minority portion of fans who hate WWE so badly they will watch anything else, not because they are any good and their decline will tell you that. I wouldn’t watch AEW for free, WWE ticket prices are terrible, and now I could say oh well I could tune into that ROH super-show or something going on in Japan, but not anymore and I am not desperate enough to check out AEW after my experiences with them & how they’ve handled some major stars. Tony Khan through the existence of AEW has killed off the independent circuit even if we want to believe that ROH was done or that Japanese companies were on the brink; the single introduction of this unprofessional donkey and his practices have hurt the alternative more than we can ever imagine.

You can criticise TNA and their creative or whatever you say with their belts, if you watch both programs you will not see it as the burials portrayed by a minority of fans who support companies which are already in the gutters, TNA is doing their best business in years & they’ve revived their product, what’s the alternative ? Doing deals with Coke Khan? What else should they do? He has already bought entire companies down to the ground and can’t get his own house in order, the wrestling is not meant to be a children’s playground and it’s not charity week that he should expect WWE to do him any favours, I mean who would or whoever has historically?

People thought Vince was ruthless but TKO is way more corporately ruthless, their own product is going to suffer with these tactics although they retain a strong casual following, however, Tony Khan & AEW deserve it for the damage they’ve done to wrestling, they are not not as innocent as they present themselves to be and making the moves they have was going to back fire eventually, ultimately, AEW is doing more harm to themselves then anyone else, they should use this opportunity to level up instead of crying about the big bad wolf, AEW feels like a charity these days.
 
AEW have without a doubt have caused more damage this century to anything remotely considered an alternative, for one through their own sh!t show which isn’t a net positive unless you want to work there yourself, no big time network will ever consider wrestling so seriously again so you can’t really quantify the damage they’ve done. AEW is doing a service only to a minority portion of fans who hate WWE so badly they will watch anything else, not because they are any good and their decline will tell you that. I wouldn’t watch AEW for free, WWE ticket prices are terrible, and now I could say oh well I could tune into that ROH super-show or something going on in Japan, but not anymore and I am not desperate enough to check out AEW after my experiences with them & how they’ve handled some major stars. Tony Khan through the existence of AEW has killed off the independent circuit even if we want to believe that ROH was done or that Japanese companies were on the brink; the single introduction of this unprofessional donkey and his practices have hurt the alternative more than we can ever imagine.

You can criticise TNA and their creative or whatever you say with their belts, if you watch both programs you will not see it as the burials portrayed by a minority of fans who support companies which are already in the gutters, TNA is doing their best business in years & they’ve revived their product, what’s the alternative ? Doing deals with Coke Khan? What else should they do? He has already bought entire companies down to the ground and can’t get his own house in order, the wrestling is not meant to be a children’s playground and it’s not charity week that he should expect WWE to do him any favours, I mean who would or whoever has historically?

People thought Vince was ruthless but TKO is way more corporately ruthless, their own product is going to suffer with these tactics although they retain a strong casual following, however, Tony Khan & AEW deserve it for the damage they’ve done to wrestling, they are not not as innocent as they present themselves to be and making the moves they have was going to back fire eventually, ultimately, AEW is doing more harm to themselves then anyone else, they should use this opportunity to level up instead of crying about the big bad wolf, AEW feels like a charity these days.
If it wasn't for AEW we wouldn't have got one of the greatest feuds of the modern era; Punk v MJF, we wouldn't have gotten one of the greatest returns of the modern era when Punk returned. Guys like MJF, Darby Allin, Ricky Starks may not have gotten a spotlight at all. Who's to say Cody would even be where he is today, if it wasn't for AEW? Even today, if it wasn't for AEW who's to say where guys like Swerve Strickland, Will Ospreay, FTR, Bobby, Shelton, MVP would be? Especially after racist, fickle HHH decided he wasn't going to do anything with them. Or Christian and Edge, who were treated very poorly by WWE and were essentially being forced into retirement. Even some of the matches that AEW has given us over the years; Punk v MJF, Bryan v Ospreay, FTR v Bullet Club Gold, FTR v Briscoes etc. will likely go down as some of the greatest matches of the modern era. I don't see how you can call any of that a negative.

AEW has major issues. It's a very unprofessionally run organization, the booker is a mark, and their treatment of Punk made this painfully clear. But at the end of the day, wrestling is still better with a company like AEW in existence.

I also disagree with the notion that it only helps the people who are working there. If someone like for instance the Hurt Business gets involved in good segments and meaningful matches and feuds, it helps the ratings, it keeps the fans interested and may even compel people to buy the PPV.

And again, this all goes back to the fact that the WWE product is utter trash right now. Somehow even worse than AEW. And it's been like this for a solid 8 months now. Rather than working to make the product better they would rather fleece their fans and double down by trying to create a situation where nobody can hold them accountable. What else are fans supposed to do if not hate WWE for doing what they are doing?

We can agree to disagree but IMO what the TKO regime is doing right is deeply detrimental to the wrestling business. And I'm not even talking about just the US. They even want to upstage Vince by killing the territory system worldwide. So that everyone has no choice but to accept their homogenized version of wrestling.
 
If it wasn't for AEW we wouldn't have got one of the greatest feuds of the modern era; Punk v MJF, we wouldn't have gotten one of the greatest returns of the modern era when Punk returned. Guys like MJF, Darby Allin, Ricky Starks may not have gotten a spotlight at all. Who's to say Cody would even be where he is today, if it wasn't for AEW? Even today, if it wasn't for AEW who's to say where guys like Swerve Strickland, Will Ospreay, FTR, Bobby, Shelton, MVP would be? Especially after racist, fickle HHH decided he wasn't going to do anything with them. Or Christian and Edge, who were treated very poorly by WWE and were essentially being forced into retirement. Even some of the matches that AEW has given us over the years; Punk v MJF, Bryan v Ospreay, FTR v Bullet Club Gold, FTR v Briscoes etc. will likely go down as some of the greatest matches of the modern era. I don't see how you can call any of that a negative.

AEW has major issues. It's a very unprofessionally run organization, the booker is a mark, and their treatment of Punk made this painfully clear. But at the end of the day, wrestling is still better with a company like AEW in existence.

I also disagree with the notion that it only helps the people who are working there. If someone like for instance the Hurt Business gets involved in good segments and meaningful matches and feuds, it helps the ratings, it keeps the fans interested and may even compel people to buy the PPV.

And again, this all goes back to the fact that the WWE product is utter trash right now. Somehow even worse than AEW. And it's been like this for a solid 8 months now. Rather than working to make the product better they would rather fleece their fans and double down by trying to create a situation where nobody can hold them accountable. What else are fans supposed to do if not hate WWE for doing what they are doing?

We can agree to disagree but IMO what the TKO regime is doing right is deeply detrimental to the wrestling business. And I'm not even talking about just the US. They even want to upstage Vince by killing the territory system worldwide. So that everyone has no choice but to accept their homogenized version of wrestling.

You know how I stopped watching up until Punk, so I can’t disagree with everything before that but I find it difficult support what they’ve become since then, how they handled the Punk situation and the damage that has been caused since then, not just to their own business but to fans like me who wanted to see those throwback feuds and the vision Punk had for Collision; now you killed off the indie circuit yeah & you’re giving me that, I could love with it, I am not sure the extent to which you understand how I feel about AEW killing wrestling for me from that perspective when it comes to the alternative. That was the peak of their company & as good as the run Punk is on now, majority of fans don’t realise what an all time great run he had with AEW, that’s what AEW took from me, they killed Ring Of Honour and while I didn’t so much care about Japan in this era, I looked forward to WrestleKingdom and they have lost the magic dust since AEW began poaching their top guys & not just the western ones either, you mentioned the belt thing with TNA but that was minor compared to the arrangement between AEW & NJPW, Japan experienced a genuine decline through working with Tony & am sure JC’s pod would explain it better than I could. My criticisms revolve around what they’ve done more recently and they are going to be fierce because I am not getting my due for what they’ve done to every WWE alternative.

You mentioned the financial aspect, that’s why I said people who work there & it’s true because AEW goes above and beyond for its staff but not for the image of professional wrestling, their brand is inherently more insulting in nature, it’s backyard garbage which thrives on cheap heat & thrills which had a place in low level indie promotions but not on national TV. WWE is completely dull under Triple Doofus & the company is performing well below its potential, but AEW is a sh!t show on another level & in its worst state, I can still watch CM Punk, Cody, Cena & Reigns etc who book their own stuff for the most part.

TKO are ruthless & H is petty enough to try & cripple AEW as much as possible, but I can never feel sorry for TK based on how he behaves & runs his business and for not really making up for killing the indies / soaking up all the top talent from there & beyond, when Punk was there it was forgiven & I could deal with or when FTR/Briscoe’s were feuding or whatever MJF was involved in, but am afraid that patch was very short-lived and I am reminded everyday that I got nothing else to watch besides the WWE and I do enjoy burying H.
 
AEW thrives on WWE hatred, from day 1 that was always what it was about.

They want to sell this business model to their fans:

WWE: Evil
AEW: Good

Now Eid has come early because H is petty enough to hold onto a grudge & give AEW plenty of ammunition to sustain their current fans, and throw in TKO’s ticketing and it’s Xmas in the Summer.

There’s nothing AEW will actually do to grow their business or improve, they’ve done everything in their power not to and just enough to appease a vocal minority with the anti-WWE rhetoric so Tony Khan can continue to play with his action figures, now this is the harsh truth.
 
You know how I stopped watching up until Punk, so I can’t disagree with everything before that but I find it difficult support what they’ve become since then, how they handled the Punk situation and the damage that has been caused since then, not just to their own business but to fans like me who wanted to see those throwback feuds and the vision Punk had for Collision; now you killed off the indie circuit yeah & you’re giving me that, I could love with it, I am not sure the extent to which you understand how I feel about AEW killing wrestling for me from that perspective when it comes to the alternative. That was the peak of their company & as good as the run Punk is on now, majority of fans don’t realise what an all time great run he had with AEW, that’s what AEW took from me, they killed Ring Of Honour and while I didn’t so much care about Japan in this era, I looked forward to WrestleKingdom and they have lost the magic dust since AEW began poaching their top guys & not just the western ones either, you mentioned the belt thing with TNA but that was minor compared to the arrangement between AEW & NJPW, Japan experienced a genuine decline through working with Tony & am sure JC’s pod would explain it better than I could. My criticisms revolve around what they’ve done more recently and they are going to be fierce because I am not getting my due for what they’ve done to every WWE alternative.

You mentioned the financial aspect, that’s why I said people who work there & it’s true because AEW goes above and beyond for its staff but not for the image of professional wrestling, their brand is inherently more insulting in nature, it’s backyard garbage which thrives on cheap heat & thrills which had a place in low level indie promotions but not on national TV. WWE is completely dull under Triple Doofus & the company is performing well below its potential, but AEW is a sh!t show on another level & in its worst state, I can still watch CM Punk, Cody, Cena & Reigns etc who book their own stuff for the most part.

TKO are ruthless & H is petty enough to try & cripple AEW as much as possible, but I can never feel sorry for TK based on how he behaves & runs his business and for not really making up for killing the indies / soaking up all the top talent from there & beyond, when Punk was there it was forgiven & I could deal with or when FTR/Briscoe’s were feuding or whatever MJF was involved in, but am afraid that patch was very short-lived and I am reminded everyday that I got nothing else to watch besides the WWE and I do enjoy burying H.
While I may not agree with you, I definitely understand where you're coming from. Their treatment of Punk greatly pi$sed me off me aswell. Till Punk was there I considered myself a fan of AEW. But that changed after he was fired. I still think there is good stuff on AEW TV from time to time among the backyard wrestling and gymnastics exhibition, and there are great talents there, which is why I still watch. But what angers me more is what WWE has become. And honestly it's everything from the shameless product placement on ring mats and goddamn ladders and tables, to shoving celebs down our throat just because it will get good engagement on social media and all that crap. In a situation like this I'm glad AEW is around because sometimes it does feel like a cleanse from WWE, which has become difficult to watch for me week-to-week, barring the handful of segments involving guys like Punk, Cody, Roman, Cena etc. Again, I'm not going to say Dynamite is a great show, nor would I even recommend it to another wrestling fan, but every week I feel like there is something worthwhile on the show. On the other hand, just looking at the SmackDown card today made me groan. Because there wasn't a single match there that I wanted to watch.

I think one thing we can agree on is that wrestling in general is in a very sorry state. And whether you're watching AEW or WWE or TNA, at the end of the day, it's wrestling fans who are losing. We’ve reached a point where as fans we have become conditioned to settle for crumbs instead of demanding full meals. And the sad part is that I don't see things improving in any meaningful way, anytime soon.
 
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