The Wrestling Thread

[Raging Justice]

Oh, one other thing. I mentioned that I was about 60-40 on Sting losing his final match, but one thing that had me thinking Sting might win, was that it meant the tag team titles would be vacated and then Tony could do one of his little tournaments to decide the new champions.

I legitimately find it kinda funny that Tony announced that there would be a tournament to decide the new champions

I get it does actually make sense. But the dude really does love his tournaments

Well, tournaments are a really big deal in Japan. Thing is though, they usually do BIG tournaments that happen once or twice a year. Tony is constantly doing these stupid LITTLE tournaments though. You're right, it is kind of silly.

You know, I have to say, when you see the kind of striking Ospreay and Takeshita were doing in their match, it really does emphasize how stupid and laughable it is to call Eddie Kingston one of AEW's best strikers.

[Reprise]

Oh, one other thing. I mentioned that I was about 60-40 on Sting losing his final match, but one thing that had me thinking Sting might win, was that it meant the tag team titles would be vacated and then Tony could do one of his little tournaments to decide the new champions.

I legitimately find it kinda funny that Tony announced that there would be a tournament to decide the new champions

I get it does actually make sense. But the dude really does love his tournaments

Well, tournaments are a really big deal in Japan. Thing is though, they usually do BIG tournaments that happen once or twice a year. Tony is constantly doing these stupid LITTLE tournaments though. You're right, it is kind of silly.

You know, I have to say, when you see the kind of striking Ospreay and Takeshita were doing in their match, it really does emphasize how stupid and laughable it is to call Eddie Kingston one of AEW's best strikers.

Indeed, I think that was the issue.

The Continental Classic was great though, at least. Even if the whole thing was basically set up for Eddie to win. I liked it anyways.

Ospreay and Takeshita was an incredible match. That move Takeshita did onto the turnbuckle and Ospreay's back afterwards!

They had a way of making their moves have tremendous impact. Everything looked so stiff, but strangely safe, with each move having incredible control.

[Raging Justice]

Oh, one other thing. I mentioned that I was about 60-40 on Sting losing his final match, but one thing that had me thinking Sting might win, was that it meant the tag team titles would be vacated and then Tony could do one of his little tournaments to decide the new champions.

I legitimately find it kinda funny that Tony announced that there would be a tournament to decide the new champions

I get it does actually make sense. But the dude really does love his tournaments

Well, tournaments are a really big deal in Japan. Thing is though, they usually do BIG tournaments that happen once or twice a year. Tony is constantly doing these stupid LITTLE tournaments though. You're right, it is kind of silly.

You know, I have to say, when you see the kind of striking Ospreay and Takeshita were doing in their match, it really does emphasize how stupid and laughable it is to call Eddie Kingston one of AEW's best strikers.

Indeed, I think that was the issue.

The Continental Classic was great though, at least. Even if the whole thing was basically set up for Eddie to win. I liked it anyways.

Ospreay and Takeshita was an incredible match. That move Takeshita did onto the turnbuckle and Ospreay's back afterwards!

They had a way of making their moves have tremendous impact. Everything looked so stiff, but strangely safe, with each move having incredible control.

I like that we saw a Slumdog Millionaire, possibly a callback to his match with Cassidy? Also, AJ Styles has created one of the greatest finishers in pro wrestling. Any time a wrestler in any company busts out a Styles Clash, it gets a reaction from the crowd.

[Raging Justice]

[Reprise]

Cool. Guessing Jay will pick up the win, since Darby is leaving at the end of the month to go climb Mount Everest.

[Raging Justice]

Holy shit!

Michael Cole and Pat Mcafee are talking about Sting's last match on commentary on Monday Night Raw! They even said the match was great!



I just realized how awesome Hangman and the Bucks could be as a heel trio, especially if Hangman leverages his relationship with EVPs Matt and Nick Jackson to keep screwing over Swerve.

Hangman - "I've been discussing things with my good friends Matthew and Nicholas here, and we don't believe that you are a good fit for what this company represents Mr. Strickland."

Nick - "We think you're a good hand Mr. Strickland, but you will NOT be getting a world title shot any time in the near future...or at all."

Matt - "On a more positive note, we are very excited to announce that our good friend Adam here will indeed be getting a title shot. We will also be overseeing everything at ringside to ensure that everything is on the up and up as they say and to also be closer to the wonderful AEW fans that we love so much. Thank you Renee, you look lovely as always. Wonderful job you're doing. Turn off the camera Brandon"

Renee - "Wait, aren't you at all concerned with some of Hangman's recent actions. I mean, we've seen him attack a AEW official. Shouldn't there be some consequences for actions like that"

Matt - "Look Renee, we appreciate the feedback, but maybe you should stick to your job and leave the business decisions to us"

Nick - "We know that Adam is very sorry for his lapse in judgement. He's been under a lot of stress lately. Have some sympathy. Do you know what it's like having to share a ring with a criminal who broke into your house?"

Renee - "What about the referee?"

Nick -"Relax we've compensated...whatever his name is, for his trouble. In fact, he'll be officiating the world title match just to show that what happened between him and Hangman is water under the bridge and we've spoken to him to make sure he calls everything straight down the middle to deliver the best possible title match for the wonderful AEW fans"

[Reprise]

It's cool WWE acknowledged Sting's retirement. Did they acknowledge Ric Flair's? Although that one was pretty shit and his 40 billionth so-called retirement match, so I wouldn't blame them if they didn't. He already had his retirement match in WWE like two decades ago.

Sting's comeback truly was incredible in retrospect though. I never really foresaw it going the way it did. I figured they would just have him come in in a manager type role. Then he had his first match in a cinematic style match and I figured maybe he'd just do a couple of those, but nope, the man went on to have like 29 actual matches, most of which were great matches. Sure, tag-team matches can be used to obscure his age, but the matches were always great for what they were. He did some amazing spots. People who didn't like it, kept saying he would get injured or worse, but he didn't. In fact, he looked incredible.

I can see Hangman aligning with the Bucks and that it would be good. I did read though that Hangman is going to take some time off now though, which sucks. I hate that about AEW. They reel you in with stories and angles and then it's like "oh, but this guy is going to be out for a couple of months". Erm ok? The dynamic between Hangman and Swerve is intriguing, what it has done to Hangman's character has made me want to tune in to see what happens next and now I am reading Hangman isn't going to be on TV for a while? Erm ok... Hopefully, it's just Wrestling Observer getting worked again, I can't remember where I read it, if it's actually confirmed or just a dirt sheet rumour.

Ospreay's story is a little predictable. This is all about breaking him away from the Don Callis family I guess. I saw a prediction that he and Okada will enter a feud with the Callis family and have a tag team match at AEW Dynasty. That seems like a solid prediction. Then again, they would probably want Okada in a big singles match, so who knows.

I reckon Kyle O'Reilly will start feeding with Roderick Strong.

I am not sure how Wardlow will fit into the title picture. Will he get a match against Joe at Dynasty? Can anyone really see Wardlow vs Joe main eventing a PPV? It feels like he needs to be built up a lot more before he is ready for that.

[Raging Justice]

It's cool WWE acknowledged Sting's retirement. Did they acknowledge Ric Flair's? Although that one was pretty shit and his 40 billionth so-called retirement match, so I wouldn't blame them if they didn't. He already had his retirement match in WWE like two decades ago.

Sting's comeback truly was incredible in retrospect though. I never really foresaw it going the way it did. I figured they would just have him come in in a manager type role. Then he had his first match in a cinematic style match and I figured maybe he'd just do a couple of those, but nope, the man went on to have like 29 actual matches, most of which were great matches. Sure, tag-team matches can be used to obscure his age, but the matches were always great for what they were. He did some amazing spots. People who didn't like it, kept saying he would get injured or worse, but he didn't. In fact, he looked incredible.

I can see Hangman aligning with the Bucks and that it would be good. I did read though that Hangman is going to take some time off now though, which sucks. I hate that about AEW. They reel you in with stories and angles and then it's like "oh, but this guy is going to be out for a couple of months". Erm ok? The dynamic between Hangman and Swerve is intriguing, what it has done to Hangman's character has made me want to tune in to see what happens next and now I am reading Hangman isn't going to be on TV for a while? Erm ok... Hopefully, it's just Wrestling Observer getting worked again, I can't remember where I read it, if it's actually confirmed or just a dirt sheet rumour.

Ospreay's story is a little predictable. This is all about breaking him away from the Don Callis family I guess. I saw a prediction that he and Okada will enter a feud with the Callis family and have a tag team match at AEW Dynasty. That seems like a solid prediction. Then again, they would probably want Okada in a big singles match, so who knows.

I reckon Kyle O'Reilly will start feeding with Roderick Strong.

I am not sure how Wardlow will fit into the title picture. Will he get a match against Joe at Dynasty? Can anyone really see Wardlow vs Joe main eventing a PPV? It feels like he needs to be built up a lot more before he is ready for that.

I'm bummed about the Hangman news if it's true. Whenever he's got something going on that makes him really interesting, he ends up having to get off TV. It hurt him a bit right before they put the title on him. He was getting super over, then took time off to help his pregnant wife, and it cooled him off a bit when he finally returned.

It's amazing that WWE fumbled Sting, and some say TNA did too. It took AEW, a company that shouldn't even have existed, to finally get it right.

Raw was kind of surreal. I didn't expect them to acknowledge Sting and AEW's pay per view last weekend. Plus, they were doing some weird stuff with Michael Cole. Ivar had a match and his manager came out wearing antlers as part of their Viking gimmick. Cole got super excited like a little kid, and then she came over to the commentary table and put the antlers on his head. Wacky stuff. They made a big huge deal about it. It was really cringe, but also kind of funny just due to the fact that they were willing to do something so silly and let Michael Cole have fun. It just felt like we don't really give a fuck, we're having fun tonight, like watching one of your friends get drunk and make an ass of himself. Maybe watching Sting at Revolution just put everyone in a great mood

They set up a multi-man match to determine Gunther's opponent as Wrestlemania. It's really interesting because I can see both Sami Zayne and Chad Gable winning it. I'm guessing it might be Sami, but I kind of want it to be Chad. They even got a cool promo vid for him:



Also, Dakota Kia and Damage Control were all over Raw. To the point that Rhea Ripley got in Dakota Kai's face and said, "Stay out of my territory". That was fun. They are pushing Bayley as a face hard. Michael Cole even said he felt bad for her, the same Cole that she used to harass all the time

Course Cole could barely think of anything last night beyond his silly antlers

[Raging Justice]

Sammy Guevarra is suspended again for his match with Jeff Hardy. This guy has no luck. I don't know if he is in the wrong here or the referee for the match is, but Sammy's taking the heat.

Jeff Hardy seems to have no luck either.

[Reprise]

Yeah, I thought that was a bit harsh. Why didn't the ref just call the match off or stop Sammy? That said, I read that he was told by either the ref or a doctor (or both) during the match that Jeff is hurt and not to hit his finisher and he ignored it, so probably justified if that is true.