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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 5, 2023 12:43:17 GMT -5
The Horsemen were a unique stable, because their popularity was very much centered in that southeast area of the country, and they continued to get pops mostly because fans were loyal to Flair and Arn. I think Benoit worked because he'd gained national recognition in WCW and those fans felt he was one of 'their' guys. As for Bret, I detected the same kind of resistance to him as Hogan got when he first came to WCW. There were plenty of cheers, but it wasn't this 'omg dream come true' reception they were hoping for. So, for that reason I don't see the fans buying Bret as a Horseman. Best thing they could have done with Bret, IMO, is have him start at the bottom, announce he's going to prove himself to the WCW fans, let him work with Regal, Booker T, Bagwell, Flair, and give him six months to just be Bret Hart and let the fans warm up to him better before they try to find his spot in the nWo/main event mix. Anvil and Bulldog were awful at this point in their careers, and even though the nostalgic part of me would have marked out to see a Hart Foundation faction in WCW, I don't think it would have done Bret any favors. I think in isolation that'd make sense (Bret so often thrived when he was a fighting champion or the underdog rising up the ranks), but I do think it'd have been pretty tough to do given that he was coming over with the Screwjob hanging over everything and being the biggest story in wrestling. I get why they wanted to strike early with that being the case...but as mentioned above, Hogan no doubt wanted to short circuit that as quickly as possible to ensure that Hart would be "just another guy".
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 5, 2023 9:32:09 GMT -5
Great now that all the series went 2-0 I have to pay attention to Thursday night football While the Wild Card Round has its perks - it gives more teams a fighting chance at the postseason and each game in a three-game series is absolutely pivotal - it has been kind of a letdown since it was introduced in terms of getting us to an exciting win-or-go-home game. In the two years of MLB's Wild Card Round, only 1 of the 8 series (2022: San Diego vs. New York) has gone the distance. The other seven have been two-game sweeps. And if you count the 2020 pandemic-shortened 16-team Wild Card Round, only 3 of the 16 series have made it to Game 3. Imagine the excitement if one season, all four Wild Card series go the distance - that's basically four one-game playoffs in a single day. Which is why I was never really into the idea of the best of 3 format to begin with; a lot of series go 2-0, and so far that's mostly what we're getting. I really enjoyed the one game knockout format they were doing before when they introduced the second Wild Card, but this has all felt really flat for the first two seasons.
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 5, 2023 5:52:20 GMT -5
Definitely some weirdness with the pacing on this one, some of which might be chalked up to not having everyone available to work for various reasons, but it led to some segments going a bit long and feeling kind of strange.
On the other hand, a lot of what they did in those segments was really, really good seed planting and setups: Hobbs joining Callis, Wardlow's return, Jay White and BCG making it clear that they hold MJF accountable, Toni fully snapping into "Timeless", Joe's Kingpin promo, "go @#$% yourself", and MJF clearly getting closer to the end of his rope given everything now on his plate and Cole letting his attention get torn in two...meantime, is it me or might it be significant that MJF said Caster was leaving notes in his locker, one week after saying someone broke into his locker to take the devil mask? Just a thought.
So yeah, I'll say this is a case of a hangover episode given that many people were missing and a lot of new directions had to be set up following the PPV, but the highs were very high, so a 7 feels fair.
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 4, 2023 20:41:42 GMT -5
why is she heeling during the match if she was just a babyface? Toni? She hasn't been a babyface; she's continued cheating since losing her mind.
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 4, 2023 20:39:08 GMT -5
I used to joke back in the day that I wanted to see TNA wrestlers in HBO shows (this included AJ Styles as Jason Stackhouse in True Blood), and the obvious call was always Samoa Joe as Tony Soprano. Now I must demand that we get mafia kingpin Samoa Joe and Yakuza clan leader Hikaru Shida waging a turf war.
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 4, 2023 20:36:55 GMT -5
He is...the Most Interesting Samoan in the World.
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 4, 2023 20:32:43 GMT -5
CASTER, SMOOCH HIM, SMOOCH HIM NOW
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 4, 2023 20:31:38 GMT -5
This seems to be another show with non-match segments going juuuuuust a bit too long, though I wonder how much of that is it being right after the PPV when clearly a lot of people are just physically not ready to go, and how much is whatever illnesses or whatever were going around the other week. Definitely have that vibe. Some effective segments, but in an ideal week they'd be a couple minutes shorter each. Callis goes full Attitude Era with the chair!
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 4, 2023 19:02:22 GMT -5
Uh...why is TBS showing me another Big Bang Theory episode?
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 4, 2023 12:22:33 GMT -5
Head up to the old strip on Fremont Street...but walk through it quick so the folks on the street don't scam you for a picture or anything. Get past the covered part and head down towards some of the restaurants and bars and whatnot the locals are more likely to hit up, they're pretty fun.
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 2, 2023 6:25:34 GMT -5
Aaaaaaand we circle jerk right back to the same place every few pages. I think we're done here.
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 2, 2023 5:09:50 GMT -5
Honestly I really hate this and it soured the whole PPV for me because I was waiting for it, so will have to rewatch it. A 4-year-old company with an incredible roster, full of people who deserve opportunities, and the PPV ends with the debut of a guy whose first world title was nearly 20 years ago, overshadowing the hard work of their roster. It doesn't sit right with me, to be honest. It's not what I want AEW to be. I kinda agree. They are too much like WCW now. They're going for cheap pop and nostalgia and I think it's too much. It was said at the start of this thread that they're "too much like TNA", now it's too much like WCW, and I'm just left absolutely baffled.
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 1, 2023 23:01:16 GMT -5
The awkward moment when AEW fans who bashed Edge for being old and out of shape now have to get hyped for a feud between him and Christian... AEW fans who knocked Edge for being too old and WWE fans who knocked Jade for being too green acknowledging each other this week:
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 1, 2023 22:59:14 GMT -5
He's going by his real name, just like Nash and Hall in WCW lol Yeah, but look at the adjective, "going".
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 1, 2023 22:55:00 GMT -5
Welp, whatever the hell this new era of AEW is, we're riding into it like Major Kong, baby.
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 1, 2023 22:49:10 GMT -5
I think Nick just got a new daddy.
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 1, 2023 22:47:54 GMT -5
They're in Seattle, so I'd Defy them to do it. uh... something something all wheels wrestling? Uh...DPW'S FOR THA BOIS LET'S @#$%ING GOOOOOOOOOO
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 1, 2023 22:46:42 GMT -5
Excalibur: This is Beyond Professional Wrestling. I thought it was All Elite Wrestling. Should Beyond sue them? They're in Seattle, so I'd Defy them to do it.
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 1, 2023 22:45:57 GMT -5
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 1, 2023 22:41:52 GMT -5
Aw, Christian's such a sweetheart, he knows the match is over so he's taking the ring apart so the crew doesn't have to after the show ends!
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