Lurker > Strife2

I only saw Kingston once, but you're right. He's the Taz I never had in WWE. Thanks Vince...

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

Okay, Aron Stevens aka Damien Sandow makes everything in NWA Power worth watching.

Him and Question Mark are fucking magical. They debut this overweight fuck in a Question Mark match and then the crowd got him super over despite them wanting him to be booed, so now he is a mystery man from Mongrovia and a master of Mongrovian Karate and Aron Stevens is his student who became a third degree black belt in Mongrovian Karate in a week.

It's so stupid and at the same time everything I love in wrestling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHaHPuxHoaI

NWA is Aldis, Stevens, and Pope. Everyone else is good, but those three chew so much scenery.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

ZeroSignal620 posted...

WWE: We're conducting Wrestlemania in an empty crowd to exercise social distancing.

Also WWE: Books Bayley to defend her title against Lacey, Dana, Tamina, Naomi, and Sasha at Mania

Wow. I'm tempted to say that is a worse six women lineup than the EC was. If it is elimination style, they better get Dana, Lacey, and especially Tamina out fast. Oof.

If it's not, just keep Bayley, Sasha, and Naomi in most of the time.
.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Me

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

GNC closed indefinitely. I am now on lockdown completely.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Minnesota isn't locked down just yet, but probably will be.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Jim Sterling had a Youtube video about that. What a crock of shit.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

No word yet about GNC, but I still feel weird not working right now at LEGO. Still, being compensated for two weeks, and Wild compensating for the games I missed is less painful.

With food stocked up, now it's just a waiting game.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Vince had a Upper midcard/main eventer and he sent him straight to AEW. I doubt he'll be the last either.


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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

Oh hey, the Exalted One is Brodie Lee.

Ok. Now AEW has my attention. With this shutdown, I should be able to watch it for a change.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

I've never gone shopping this often so much in a row. Always missing something.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

LEGO store in the Mall of America closed.. Reimbursed for two weeks, but that makes two jobs I have lost temporarily.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Mall of America closing its theme park. Retail (at least what hasn't already voluntarily closed) staying open.

My job seems safe...for now.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Tag

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

...Vince is weird

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

That is some savagery.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

His justification: his association with Gronk keeps him employed.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

I've heard JR is "When he cares, he's great, when he doesn't, god help Tony and Excalibur." Don't know if that is still the case.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Hey, that's D&D logic. Random towns are always up to no good.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Both the Alucard and Trevor/Sypha arcs didn't do much in the grand scheme. I am assuming this was an attempt to branch into new stories without the added benefit of "Hey look guys, they are fighting Dracula."

I'm not saying they were perfect, but this season was more dramatic and a character thinkpiece than balls out action. The Hector/Issac stories tied into each other, but for being rushed, the other two managed to maintain the "world is shit, people are shit, and life is misery" tone the whole thing was going for.

My guess is they needed Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard there somehow, while justifying Saint Germain and the new Vampire baddies to be built up.


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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

god. GameFAQs new interface sucks to deal with spoilers...

Anyway, Alucard wanted friends, and ended up more lonely. Not a waste at all.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Just caught the Jake promo from lsst week. Even as a broken down man, he just controls the room. Holy shit. I wish I'd seen him in his prime.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

All those metrics why? Just say 2.18 million average and go," WWE DONE FUCKED!"

USA and Fox paying up the ass for so little.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Final point: maybe if Vince gets enough MMA inspired wrestlers, he won't need to poach current "celebrity" fighters so much.

...

*solemn quiet moment of frustration*

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

WWE has a problem about keeping 2-3 stars per division actually strong and making THEM unbeatable, so that an actual feud with actual fan investment happens.

They have Charlotte (by force), Becky (by dumb luck), and hopefully now Shayna. They fed Asuka to Charlotte and Becky, so she is dead. The least you can do is make sure Shayna is the one.

There is a shelf life on acts, whether you bury them, 50-50, or book them like a badass (to the point of boredom). They waited JUST long enough to get Becky a long ass credible reign before fans just go "Next toy". That or Vince overcomplicates things when there's a "right time" to go with something.

I'm annoyed that WWE can't do this "star" thing more often, hence why I said fuck it.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

If the PPV is so lackluster...why are people watching? I don't even a "there's one complete trainwreck match, so I have to tune in" vibe.

*binge watching Castlevania*

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

scarletspeed7 posted...

Is this the least-hyped PPV ever?

Stomping Grounds

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Yes. It has been a nice change of pace. I haven't gotten around to AEW yet, but will once things slow down. Too much fucking work. 9 days in a row UGH

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Ah yes. I vaguely remember what happened last week now.

*bashes head against a wall to forget again*

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

What starpower?

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

My money is on: Selling Fox on the idea of Lesnar, Rousey, and a "sports feel (AHAHAHAHAH)" to fleece $1 billion out of Fox for Smackdown...just to Fox to get none of that.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Goddamn. Two weeks watching NWA, and Aldis, Pope, and Stevens just killing it on the mic again.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Feels weird knowing the Hardys are in different companies. I'm sure it's happened, but it's still weird.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Steiner posted...

i mean you also didn't stick the landing but you did so with an aplomb that i just couldn't muster

Reminds me of that Austin joke. "I like you kid. Not very much, but I like you."

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Thanks.

My alternate title was "Part-Timer Paradigm Shift".

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

https://www.sescoops.com/closer-look-at-codys-neck-tattoo-brandi-gives-her-opinion/

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

I have no idea what that means, but that's probably a bad thing

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Matt Hardy officially gone from WWE. Exalted Matt time this week?

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

After thinking about it some more, I think all I know for sure is WWE is rotten garbage. I think I'll give AEW another chance, because god forbid, there's enough wrestlers on there that something would grab me.

If they really did dump Nightmare Collective and scale back Dark Order, they probably have some self awareness.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

I guess you're right. I'm being negative about something I don't even watch, instead of ignoring it (like I should have edone). Sorry.

I hate myself sometimes.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

But that's just it. I DIDN"T enjoy AEW. Not enough to keep up with it, but because it is the major 2nd promotion, it feels weird to not care about it at all.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

My original post was all over the place, so let me see if I can make it make sense.

AEW has this insane hype surrounding it from all sides, whether people like it or hate it. This "salvation" against WWE's boilerplate nonsense. I watched it, didn't get it, thought people like Omega and the Young Bucks were "cool, but not as great as they are hyped up to be." and I just think the expectation I have is so high BECAUSE of that, what I remember from AEW was...ok.

Something like NWA has none of that baggage. It was a short, sweet, absolutely different style of show, almost no wrestling podcast talks about it, doesn't try to be some alternative to WWE. It just exists in its own place and bubble. Easier to handle and watch as an outsider looking for a new thing.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Note: the counter programming to Rhea/Shayna was THAT Dark Order segment. Still need time to fathom they put that on the air, months later.

There's something off about the whole thing. I should like AEW, but I don't.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Then again, I'm not one to gauge AEW properly. Watched a couple episodes, wasn't interested, and found myself watching the Rhea/Shayna NXT show over it when I had the rare choice

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Maybe, but of he's facing PAC or Moxley, I'd just want them to bury him for being in the ring with them.

*thinks I said this before*

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

So the reason he's a thing is because he's Santino who hulks up into Seth Rollins on the rarest of occasions.

And it sounds like the RAREST if occasions

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

I'm more bothered by Vince's insistence that "fans are stupid, they will like what we present no matter what," rather than fostering a sense of goodwill with the audience.

Bending over ass backwards for an audience all the time isn't good, but the rate they give people something (WM35) versus not (...almost everything else) is striking. I mean, on the same show McIntyre got his big break, Charlotte got another accolade she didn't need.

Paying customers are only paying customers so long as they aren't treated like bitches.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

We saw that with last year's Raw reunion. Very little spike.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

So when does she lose favor with smarks and turn heel...or face someone super popular...or bitch about Japanese wrestlers or their bank accounts on Twitter?

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

But you just know if Drew doesn't "grab the brass ring," he'll lose the title to Diesel at Summerslam.

Which reminds me...how has Becky escaped unscathed? The fact she's stayed over as Raw champion for a year in the era of Charlotte is concerning. It's like that Family Guy skit where Brian hits Peter with the newspaper.

*Vince wants Evans
Heyman bats him with newspaper
No...no*

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass