The Wrestling Thread

[Markies]

I saw somebody post a long list of all the pushes and everything that was handed to Ricky Starks and he still never really got that over. I'll be curious to see what he does over at WWE. I don't think his personality is big enough and the Rock comparisons will be even harder to ignore over there.

Malaki and Miro will probably head over there as well. They have both been very injury prone and reluctant to work any storyline unless they approve it. Andrade has now been there for a year and he is basically the same from when he joined. I imagine Malaki and Miro will be there too. Nothing guys in the mid-card taking up space.

Cedric Alexander is probably a lock for AEW. The Hurt Syndicate needs a lighter and faster member, so he would be perfect for them. I would have preferred them using an AEW guy as well, like a Lio Rush, but Cedric is fine. He is married to "Big Swole" and she had a large falling out with AEW, so I'll be curious to see how that pans out.

I think Gallows and Anderson will probably go back to NJPW. They did really well over there. They may pop into AEW as well, which I wouldn't mind as I think they could fit there.

I think Blair Davenport and Isla Dawn also have potential. I'm assuming they both will go back to England and work their independents there. I think either could also do well at AEW or ROH.

[Reprise]

I don't know how true it is, but allegedly some of those AEW names have no 90 day agreement and could in theory show up on NXT or one of the main WWE shows soon.

Starks is fine, but I don't personally buy into some of the hype surrounding him online. Some of it seems a bit over the top and forced.

Malakai/Alistair is also a fine acquisition for them. No idea what his issue was in AEW, but hopefully he's happy over there. Rumours resurfaced about creative disputes and him not wanting to take pins. Whatever I guess.

I agree Gallows and Anderson will probably go back to NJPW.

Blair Davenport and Isla Dawn will probably go to AEW. Although it would be semi-amusing if a lot of the WWE releases went over to TNA.

Speaking of TNA, I wonder what's happening with Speedball and where/when he might show up. There were reports he was AEW bound months ago.

[Reprise]

Ricky Starks showed up on NXT less than 24 hours after he was released from AEW.

[Reprise]

I am probably the only person here who benefits from this, but NJPW has got a television deal in the UK with airings starting this week, with Wrestle Kingdom 19 on the 15th. Wrestle Dynasty will be airing at some point in February too. I already bought both on PPV, but there should be more events coming. It's a free channel, so it's pretty cool.

[Reprise]

Interesting things coming out about Shane McMahon and AEW. As most people know, they had meetings last year, with a photograph even leaking of Tony and Shane meeting.

Then it all fizzled out....

It's been revealed that Shane McMahon wanted equity in AEW and wanted to run a lot of things. Tony rejected Shane's offer. Fightful have allegedly corroborated some aspects of the story, although not the equity part. They did confirm that he wanted to run shows and take over some aspects.

Could you imagine it? A rival wrestling promotion partially owned by another a McMahon? What an odd situation.

[Markies]

Yeah, I can see why Tony rejected that idea.

So, Shane has been wanting to run a promotion for YEEEEEAAARRS! He wanted to run ECW as an independent brand and then run it as an internet only show. But, Vince said no and Vince basically killed the brand.

Back before Dana White was in charge, Shane wanted to buy UFC and run that himself. Once again, Vince said No.

He then came back to try and take WWE back, but that fell apart as well. HHH/Nick Khan basically run the show now and Shane has been shown the door.

Shane has some really great ideas. An internet only wrestling show would have worked, but he was suggesting it back before even Youtube existed. UFC became a billion dollar company and Shane could have been on the ground floor. I feel bad for Shane as he has some good ideas and he did really well for himself when he went out on his own.

I don't see why Tony Khan would let Shane have control in his company or even his creative. That really doesn't make any sense. If maybe they became partners down the line, it might have worked. But, for Shane to just walk in and ask for share/creative in the company just feels a little too much too soon.

[Reprise]

Yeah, he has. I believe I read before too that he was also keen to run WCW as a separate promotion back when WWE first purchased it and the option of continuing it as its own separate brand was still on the cards prior to the Invasion angle.

The story is a bit weird. Shane could have been a valuable asset, but I assume he doesn't just want to be utilised as an employee and instead wanted a stake in the company and if the Khans weren't looking to give away part of their company then it wasn't going to happen.

[Reprise]

Do wrestling fans ever stop and wonder what their online discourse looks like to outsiders? It's completely bizarre. It's like wrestling fans sit within a bubble where they argue and hate things for the most nerdiest and silliest of reasons. The online community as a whole comes across as obsessive. Is there any other fandom like this? I am not talking about just a small minority of people. All of the online blogs and websites are involved in tabloid-esque ragebait and clickbait and actively feed into people's tribalism. I think the "influencers" who dominate the online space and help direct the online discussions are some of the biggest grifters and engagement farmers I have seen in any forms of entertainment. Don't even get me started on the podcasters. It's just so nitpicky and negative.

Don't get me wrong, people are free to criticise things they aren't particularly into, but it sometimes feel like for some fans, hating on things literally is the hobby

[marurun]

As an outsider looking in, I suspect the reason for this is the unique nature of wresting. It's physical, but it's not sports. There isn't legitimate competition because it's scripted. So in that sense it's more akin to acting, except few wrestlers are truly great actors outside of using their bodies in the physical wrestling itself. And because the drama of it is driven by exaggerated personas and conflicts, well, that's kind of what you get. In sports there's some of that, but people can talk about stats and performance in a way you can't with wrestling since the outcomes are scripted. And it's hard to talk about it the way movies and TV shows are talked about because the quality of the writing isn't really the point. It's more about that combination scripted/spontaneous choreography in the ring. And I know I've read a little about that that seemed less trollish and fandomy, going into athleticism and stamina and whatnot, but there's only so much you can really write about that, so it just comes back to people writing about the personas and people, which is a recipe for what you're describing, IMO.

AGain, I'm an outsider to this, so feel free to tell me I'm way out in left field (wrong sports analogy).

[Raging Justice]