hansolol

@bigsocrates: I actually meant to write "not in so many words," lol. I'm reminded of that "marathon not a sprint" press release. It wasn't hard to tell what they were actually saying.

Also, one of the things you see a lot on Bryan Alvarez's timeline is some version of "why do Bryan and Dave shit on Vince when it's those darn writers that are messing up the show?" Not everyone knows Vince ran the entire show. I really think they would benefit from some kind of acknowledgement that things are going to be different now that the one guy holding everything back is gone. Apparently they already mentioned ROH and said the word 'belt' on Smackdown? So hey, that's something. Remember this?

The shows are going to remain the same for a while but once they decide to go in a new direction, they really need to figure out a way to say, in so many words, something to the effect of:

"We know the shows have been pretty bad for the past 20 years and complete dogshit for the past 5 but we're actually going to try to put on a good show for once. The creative team has been completely reworked and we're not doing the camera cut bullshit anymore."

Or maybe the shows stay mostly the same with Prichard running things, and they just keep catering to their hardest of hardcore fans. Not holding my breath.

FTR vs Briscoes was fantastic. This FTR face turn was pretty unexpected but I'm loving it so far.

Seeing Joe debut, I have to imagine that Castagnoli is a lock for ROH as well. I wasn't super sold on it at first but Tony running ROH as a separate brand is seeming like more and more of a good idea.

SEND BUTCH

I'm curious as to what happened back in late 2019 when there was supposedly a big fight between Cody and the rest of the creative team. What was the fight over? Because I feel like that has been festering this entire time.

During that promo where he challenged Sammy to a ladder match, it's kinda funny that he had that line about "I go away for a week and all of a sudden there's speculation that I'm leaving!?" . . . And then he actually just leaves lol.

Super psyched for Danhausen!! Honestly, the most exciting thing to happen in AEW in months.

Oh baby, Pac vs. Malakai!! Instantly became my most hyped match of the year!

2 things worth noting:

1. Full ratings reports for Friday nights come in on Tuesday. A few markets in the US get them a day or 2 earlier and a report that extrapolates those numbers known as the 'fast nationals' gets made up as an early indication but not 100% accurate. Usually that early report is lower than the real number. WWE the past few weeks has been sending the fast nationals to outlets to make Rampage look bad. They neglected to send them this week. gEe i wOnDeR wHy, sUcH oDD bEhAvIoR fRoM sUcH a gReAt rEsPeCtAbLe cOmPaNy???

2. This was the test run of a permanent third hour of Smackdown on FS1. They wanted to see if they could draw fans away from Rampage. Basically the bully wanted to see if they could bully the competition and were sent packing with their tail between their legs.

@brian_: My favorite was, "great head of hair on that Serena Deeb, there!"