Going to experience a bit of FOMO tonight as RAW is in Orlando and I’m not going.
A bit more disappointed than usual because Hogan is making an appearance and that’d be cool to see him, but RAW is a slog to get through on a normal day and I just don’t want to be getting home at midnight/12:30…
Speaking of Dusty and Tully, Baby Doll (that…that…she’s a…JEZEBEL) was on Busted Open recently, and the host wanted her to reveal just what was in “the envelope” she gave Dusty back in the day, but, in part because Tommy Dreamer (who claims Dusty told him how that angle was supposed to be resolved) told her not to on the air, she wouldn’t say.
The quick version: back in 1988, Baby Doll, who was now Larry Zybysko’s valet, tried to blackmail Dusty with a photograph inside of a manila envelope, which she would make public if Dusty didn’t give Zybysko a US title shot, but when Baby Doll was fired (offstage) by WCW, they dropped the angle by having Dusty remind everybody that, in 1985, a stipulation in a match he had with Tully said that Dusty would get Baby Doll for “thuddy daze” (this happened; a week or two after the match, they had a bit where Dusty made Baby Doll work at a horse ranch, but when he let her actually get on a horse, she rode off).
So the biggest news from today’s AEW rally is that their next PPV, “Double or Nothing”, will be emanating from the MGM Grand in Vegas on May 25th.
Chris Jericho and PAC (formerly Adrian Neville) have been announced as signees along with most of the Elite regulars, with Billy Gunn being announced as a producer. No news on Kenny Omega, who’s declared that he’s officially done with New Japan but reportedly has a huge offer on the table from WWE.
Just saw that news and holy shit, those are some great signings. Vince is probably pissed.
I’m really hoping those guys can make a go of this.
Rumor has it that Omega wants to retain creative control, but WWE don’t play dat. Maybe he’s using Brock Lesnar’s tactic and waiting to see if Cody offers him more money.
Mustafa Ali pwns SD again. He was in a blow-off match tagging with Rey Mysterio vs Samoa Joe and Andrade Cien Almas. Mus ate the announcer’s table again, defied gravity, got off his signature finisher on Joe, and otherwise made the match fucking amazing. Maybe WWE will start promoting him more at the start of the show instead of having Daniel Bryan do his unhinged activist schtick.
Juxtaposition of seeing Billy Gunn on the E&C show last night and hearing he signed with AEW. I guess he won’t be appearing for WWE again anytime soon.
I wonder if they’ll be signing his son (Austin Sopp, aka Austin Gunn). “September 1, 2018 – ALL IN Zero Hour: Austin Gunn was in the #1 contenders battle royal for the ROH World title won by Chico El Luchador (Flip Gordon).”
They also signed Christopher Daniels’ group (whatever it’s called) and also Mrs…er…Doctor Adam Cole Bay-Bay in Britt Baker and finally they seemed to indicate they had a deal with a Chinese company (which should make Trips kinda mad)
A wrestling twitter that is, according to my facebook group, usually right about these things, says Kenny is waiting until his contract runs out on the 31st and then will sign with AEW.
I wasn’t necessarily underwhelmed by the event, but I was hoping for a tad more. I mean, other than saying “we’re going to pay a lot” and “women will get equal pay to the men” they didn’t announce much of anything else that could really threaten to shake up wrestling. No TV deal announced and barely any roster aside frm the obvious ones and Jericho.
My prediction is most of the Impact/Lucha Underground roster is going to make appearances in the promotion and when all is said and done AEW is going to be no bigger/better than PWG or Defy or any of those
I did like that pic of PAC and Adam Page giving each other a staredown. Those two will tear up the ring. Page could be the next Shawn Michaels if he was cockier.
Has anybody tried watching Impact on Twitch? It’s supposed to be free, but I’m sure they’ll want me to disable my ad blocker.
Ever since they left Orlando I’m boycotting Impact
Twitch has never seemed to care about ad blockers (and I’d be surprised if it’s even configurable to check for ad blockers on an individual channel level). Twitch (and streamers) get most of their revenue through subscriptions and donations.
hehe I am too because my cable package didn’t carry Pop and doesn’t carry Pursuit. 
I still wonder how they’re holding up though. They should have died years ago but somehow they’re still around.
It’s being reported that Lars Sullivan was supposed to work a dark match on Raw this week, but suffered a panic attack and flew home early.
Panic attacks run in my family and they suck - my mother nearly got herself killed once when she had one while working as a telemarker, and ran out of the building and into traffic, and I’ve had them at my job for no apparent reason I can put my finger on. I can see how being about to work in front of such a large crowd for the first time could trigger one. I hope he’s able to overcome this hardship and make it to the big time.
I’ve suffered panic attacks before as well. I hope Lars will be okay, and I hope that WWE won’t judge him too harshly. I’m not sanguine about how they’ve treated people with mental illnesses in the past, though. Didn’t JBL bully Mauro Renello?
Takeover: Blackpool was a pretty solid show. The opening tag titles match and the UK championship match were both amazing, and WALTER’s appearance at the end was a great way to set up Pete Dunne’s next feud.
Yeah, that was good. I just finished watching it on the Network.
Opening tag match was my favorite.
Storm-Ripley was marred by going to the exhausted flailing spot too many times.
Knew nothing about Walter, so I looked him up. Impressive dude.
Since watching NXT UK, one of my life goals is now to go to one of those shows and sit in one of the balconies of these ballrooms they use.
FTR, it’s “WALTER”, spelled in all caps.
I too beheld NKY: UK Takeover and liked the tag match and UK championship match. I had no idea who WALTER was. I thought he looked like a brawler type, but that superkick he give Coffee looked pretty sharp.
I like that there’s no pretty boys in NXT: UK, except for maybe Tyler Bate. They’re bearded, disfigured, tatooed, pot bellied, got crooked teeth, and could scare the ugly off an ape. The audience does their soccer/football chants, and I have to google their irony.
I’m glad WWE acknowledged that Nigel McGuiness actually worked for RoH and Impact, but I thought his lavish devotion to WWE was a bit phony. I’m glad he managed to recover from having to retire from action. He had some tough breaks. They showed some behind-the-scenes footage of him planning broadcasts with Mauro, as well as him talking shop with the UK wrestlers. He truly bled for the cause.
I’ve only seen bits of his matches on YouTube, but Jim Cornette absolutely loves him, and it takes a lot to get that old codger interested in a modern-day wrestler, so I’m optimistic.
I wonder how Cornette likes Eddie Dennis? I was kind of “eh” about him at first, but he’s grown on me. Before his match with Massive Dave Mastiff, he said in his promo “I had an undefeated record prior to my match with Dave Mastiff and he RUINED it!” I thought it was funny, because it was so prissy.
I think he should shift more to his educational background and be like the cruel headmasterfrom Pink Floyd’s The Wall. But, NXT: UK has so far stayed away from cartoonish angles, so better not rock the boat.
Braun Strowman is now out of the title match with BORK LASER because REASONS, and Finn Balor has taken his place.
Finn vs. Brock should logically be a one-sided squash, but with the rumors I’ve been reading that Brock has no intention of working WrestleMania, this could be Finn’s big moment. If he shows up for the match as the Demon, he’s definitely winning.
