I didn’t really get that one. Henry usually makes observations like that for the kids and the marks. Taz does the same thing when he kayfabes for the heels, so I didn’t glom why they were implying he said something stupid.
I really do feel like the “indy style” that has become so prominent with a lot of this generation’s stars (which AEW embraces, but which is also seen in WWE) is just a riskier style of performance.
One reason almost no one worked that style in the 90s and earlier is guys were doing 300 appearances a year, and I assume you’d be crippled or dead by 40 working like that at that work rate (in fact, a few guys that did it pretty much did end up like that–see Dynamite Kid, albeit his style was still not as aggressive as the modern indy style.) AEW guys have pretty light schedules compared to WWE, which helps to some degree, but I think some of these big spot moves are just intrinsically very high risk of injury.
Mostly because of the preamble where Excalibur was talking up how Mark prepares for matches (it’s not that Mark doesn’t prepare, but he’s not watching tape after tape and learning the difference between a tope con hiro and a tope suicida (please forgive any spelling errors)).
It is. Many have trouble connecting with an audience, so they trade abusing their body for entertainment. The pace has gotten faster, many performers at all levels are in better shape overall (especially the big guys), but they have traded in-ring storytelling for big move after big move with minimal selling, and have made so many big moves meaningless.
This is mainly what’s wrong with wrestling. It’s not like all wrestlers were that entertaining ‘back in the day’, but the well known stars at the time were much better entertainers even when working with much less action. That came from a combination of innate skill and experience that aren’t considered requirements any more. It’s much more difficult to take an athlete and turn them into an well rounded entertainer than it is to turn them into crash dummies.
Also see sabu and tommy dreamer and a lot of the former ecw for examples
this is what Jim Cornette talks about almost every week.
I remember for example in one of their recaps it was some wanna-be hardcore match and some guy bounced another guys head off the steps 4 or 5 times …the guy stumbled about for 30 seconds and grabbed the bouncer and backdropped him to the floor pretty much no selling the hits to the head , in the old days’ hed of stumbles around for a few minutes actinin(g like hed of had attempted murder committed while getting few lucky smacks in before the comeback … of course too you can oversell a move also but that’s not a thing these days)
Joey Ryan (remember him?) has been let go from his latest job as, of all things, a tour guide on the Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland.
Lashley defeats Theory for the United States Title!
I did not see that coming. I guess he’s not going back into the WWE Title picture anytime soon.
I think the Women’s Championship story was even more unpredictable (hope that’s spoiler-free enough).
At this weekend’s UFC PPV, middleweight champion Israel Adesanya did a pretty spectacular rendition of the Undertaker’s ring entrance before his main event title defense (which he won).
Vince, Hunter, and Nick Khan were reportedly in the audience, so I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if they snap this dude up once he’s done with legitimate fighting.
I like the result. Hope she gets to hold on to the title longer than a week.
The Theory bullshit is idiotic. So is breaking up the Profits.
The Lashley-Theory fight was pretty good at several points. There was one huge moment when Lashley picked Theory out of the air and press slammed him. That was well timed and impressive, and should have been the end of the match.
(Emphasis mine.)
Wait, what? When did that happen?
It’s all over the dirt sheets and WWE is sorta confirming that in respect to Ford getting a singles title push.
AEW Dark Taz/Excalibur moment of the day
Today’s Moment is brought to you by the letter B.
- Taz decided to be PC Jones and said “butt” instead of “ass.”
- Taz is beguiled by the ages of AEW personnel: QT Marshall is 30, Fuego Del Sol is 52, and Ex is 78.
- Sonjay Dutt prefers Ticonderogas. Taz prefers Bics.
- Saxman Lewis is banned from the coffeemaker, but managed to take over handheld camera duties.
Adrian Alanis & Liam Gray vs. Bear Country
Taz: I know what they need. They’re missing something… what Bear Country probably needs is a little baby bear. Like a…
Ex: Cub.
Taz: Yeah, what we call baby bears in Brooklyn. We’re not big fans of the Chicago Cubs. Met fan here.
Ex: I didn’t specify where the cub was from.
Taz: You implied a Chicago Cub when you said the word “cub,” but I digress. So, I mean, like a little baby bear. Maybe we can think of a name, like this Bear Boulder’s in the ring, you got Bear Bronson on the outside, maybe he’s Baby Bear, so you got a Baby Bear Billy.
Ex: What about Bear Bambino?
Taz: That’s not bad, goes back to the baseball thing, like Babe Ruth, I got it. Bambino’s good.
Ex: Liam Gray just bounced off Boulder.
Taz: Baby Bear Bambino, the BBB, that’s not bad.
Ex: So the thing that’s really going to put it together for Bear Country, that’s going to get them to the top of the ladder in AEW, is having a mascot.
Taz: Well, I didn’t say a mascot, I said a third member of their crew. It’s just another baby bear, but a baby. This’ll be a little baby bear, like a cub. You said “cub,” I’ll say “cub” too. He’s Bear Bronson, by the way.
Ex: So like a Negative One situation.
Taz: Yes, but hairier than Negative One. Like, bears are hairier. You know, needs a lot of hair and like a red tongue. Negative One’s not a big hairy guy.
Ex: Put out a casting call for hirsute 10-year olds.
…
Taz: It could also be like, what do you call in Mexico, the Luchadores, the little guys?
Ex: The Minis.
Taz: Yeah. We could have a Mini Man, a Mini Man Baby Bear Bambino.
Ex: So what you’re saying is like, a Que Minito, but a bear, correct?
Taz: Yeah. I think it’s perfect, bro. I’m gonna talk to Bronson and Boulder, these are my friends, kinda. I usually get along well with wildlife.
Ex: (laughs)
Taz: But it’s gotta be a mean baby bear. Bear Bronson, as you can see, is very mean, very aggressive, he beats the hell out of people, there’s a big chop comin’ baby. See what I did there? Baby? Bear?
Ex: I gotcha, yes.
…
This somehow goes into a Price.com promo, where Ex adds “It’s more bear for your buck.”
Taz: The business we’re doing for Bear Country is amazing.
For dessert: A.Q.A. vs. Avery Breaux
Ex: Taz, I never realized when you call me “bro,” you actually spell it b-r-e-a-u-x.
Taz: That’s the only way to do it. That’s how we spell it in New York. We use Xes all the time. You know my X.
Ex: X is gonna give it to you.
The funniest part of the Price.com promo was Excalibur noting that Price.com was NOT sponsoring this episode of Dark. Taz just threw that in there with his stream of semi-conscious color commentary.
Also, for several episodes they have been calling Ryan Nemeth a locker room thief. I don’t know how well that is going over with Nemeth though.
They might be referring to the BTE episodes, where Nemeth usually has a spot. I haven’t watched it in months though.
I haven’t watched BTE since shortly after Brodie Lee passed, though that would explain why Taz keeps harping on Nemeth.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Vince McMahon paid a total of $12 million in hush money to four women to keep them quiet about sexual misconduct allegations.
Interestingly, one of the women was reportedly a wrestler who was released in 2005 after refusing to have sex with him. I wonder if any internwt sleuths have gone over what women wrestlers were dropped that year to try and figure it out.