Whatcha Bleedin' Watchin'?

[Dr. Insomniac]

And as a sidenote, he got to inadvertently ruin Kanye's life three different times.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Anyway, speaking of HBO shows, The Idol's first episode was so goddamn boring. Show uses lazy shock value as a crutch and takes forever to tell a message that the South Park episode about Britney told in a third of the time. Somehow, Hank Azaria is the least cartoonish actor in the whole thing.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The Netflix One Piece trailer finally dropped, and I'm absolutely thrilled to say that it looks every bit as stupid as I thought a live-action One Piece show would look: https://youtu.be/aQn96dEz434

I genuinely hope to have a blast binging this show drunk and ironically laughing at it the entire way through.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I don't understand the "Twilight Princess"-ization of lighting in media these days.

[Dr. Insomniac]

So after years of someone poking at me to do it, I'm finally watching Leftovers. For a while, I put off watching it because I assumed it'd be unrelenting misery porn, but after watching the first 2 and a half seasons, I didn't realize how weird this show would be. Like one episode's a tribute to the 80s sitcom Perfect Strangers, and another episode is a trip to an alternate universe where Kevin Garvey has to commit some political assassinations.

[Mustang]

Bits of Raw and Smackdown (sprinkles of AEW here and there). This whole Bloodline story. GOOD GOD! This has been some of the best story telling I've seen in wrestling for quite some time. I've always been a fan of Roman. Even when everyone hated him as a baby-face, I still thought he was good. Terrible on the mic, but still a good performer. The USOS!!!! I'll just crown them as Greatest Tag Team of all time. I wasn't a fan of Sammy Zane, but I hear he had a hand in coming up with some of the writing in that story (Kudos if true). As a wrestler, not a fan of him nor Kevin Owens.

Cody Rhodes. Never thought I'd ever seen him and Brock going at it. Never thought I'd even like the idea of them going at it until I actually see them going at it, and I actually like it. I wanna say you can clearly see Brock trying to get Cody even more "over" than ever, but does Cody even need it at this point? This is David vs Goliath and if Cody actually beats Brock, kudos to Brock. Hell, speaking of Brock, ever since he came back with this Cowboy look, I love it. It looks like he's having the time of his life in there; like the shackles are off and he gets to just be himself a cut loose and I'm here for it.

I don't know what's going on with Bray Wyatt or Bobby Lashley, but I wish they'd do more with them individually. Drew McIntyre should be used more (I don't know if he was injured, but it shouldn't have taken for him to leave to get a push. He should always be in front). The only other person I feel like they deserve a shot is L.A. Knight. This guy is IT.

There are some names I left out because they do nothing for me. The women division bores me, but I will say that it's about time that Shayna and Ronda is going at it. They should also be going after belts (that's don't include Tag Team in it). As much as I like Asuka, Charlotte and Rhea, Shayna needs to be included here. She's been sidelined way too much. Everyone else is whatever as well.

I wish I had kept up long enough to know that Summer Slam was going to be in my home town next weekend. Had I known that, I would've been there live.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I had been contemplating posting about current WWE but didn't think anyone else but me on this board was keeping up with any of it. Cool to know that I'm not alone.

Bits of Raw and Smackdown (sprinkles of AEW here and there). This whole Bloodline story. GOOD GOD! This has been some of the best story telling I've seen in wrestling for quite some time. I've always been a fan of Roman. Even when everyone hated him as a baby-face, I still thought he was good. Terrible on the mic, but still a good performer. The USOS!!!! I'll just crown them as Greatest Tag Team of all time. I wasn't a fan of Sammy Zane, but I hear he had a hand in coming up with some of the writing in that story (Kudos if true). As a wrestler, not a fan of him nor Kevin Owens.

This is without a doubt the best story-line WWE has had since anything in the Attitude Era, IMO. There were good angles here and there, but not on this level for this a long a period of time with this level of consistency. CM Punk's run was squandered at several points due to bad booking decisions between 2011-2013 despite it having some great feuds and even better promos in the mix. Daniel Bryan's rise to the top between 2013-2014 was really only memorable for the climax of it leading into Wrestlemania (which is probably why people have fonder memories of it). The problem is that they clearly weren't pushing him like they should have been until they realized the fans would literally riot if they had Bautista go over at Wrestlemania. It lead to an all-time great crowd-pleasing moment, but the story-line with The Authority mostly saw Bryan and other populal stars get buried for most of the run and it just got to be insufferable.

The Bloodline has managed to be a genuinely domninant heel faction that until their break-up had felt nearly unbeatable, but done in a way that still made it looks like any opponents had some hope so that they didn't feel overpowered. They didn't succumb to the same problem that made the NWO get stale back in the 90's with being rammed down people's throats for entire shows and having them dominate every time they were on screen. There was enough flaws to keep them interesting and having Sammy Zayn in the mix really added a great dynamic and contrast to the rest of the group and made the story that much more interesting until his baby-face turn earlier this year.

On that note, while both Zayn and Owens aren't impressive physically, and clearly aren't top draws outside of being associated with The Bloodline, I would give them a bit more credit than you might as I think they are really good with their in-ring work and also managed to add some much needed personality to interactions with The Usos, Solo, and Roman.

And yes, The Usos are great. I wouldn't go so far as calling them best tag team of all time myself. As a wrestling fan, I just couldn't in good faith put them above the likes of classics like Tully and Arn or some of my favorites from the Attitude Era like Edge and Christian or the Dudley Boys. Even if we are just talking about modern teams, I'd easily say that FTR outclasses any other tag team that I've seen in the modern age by miles. That said, you won't hear me denying anyone singing their praises. They have been exceptional both on the mic and in the ring, and the emotion that Jey in particular has brought forth through his feud with Roman has really cemented him as a star in my eyes. Solo is fresh, green young talent that they are cultivating through this angle, and he has grown a lot in such a short amount of time since his debut on the main roster. He still has a long way to go to being a main even singles star, but the fact that people expect that of his future at all is saying a lot for how well he has done for himself in all of this. What he lacks in size comapred to the rest of his family, he makes up for in his pshychotic demeanor while also having those hallmark Anoa'i family trait of coming off like a bad-ass Samoan.

And finally there is Roman. I have to say, while I wasn't particularly a fan of his during his baby-face run as The Big Dog, I always felt really bad for how much vitriol was thrown at him through fan backlash. Like, people got downright hateful to a level that made the negativity that someone like John Cena received during a large portion of his run seem kind by comparsion. I could always see the professionalism in him even when his mic skills and in-ring work were really lacking. But man, ever since he turned heel and got to show more of his personality, the guy has earned every bit of his status as the top guy of the company. Not only will his multi-year run as WWE Undisputed Champion go down in history as a one of the most legendary runs they have ever had in the modern age, but I genuinely think that his run as the Tribal Chief will completely overshadow the hate he got in the past several years leading up to it. People are going to remember him what what he has done since then and what he is doing now, as well as his beginnings in The Shield, and that is a testament to how much of an impression he has left on fans with the talent has has always clearly had but wasn't able to express before the Pandemic allowed creative to let him take risks like this.

Cody Rhodes. Never thought I'd ever seen him and Brock going at it. Never thought I'd even like the idea of them going at it until I actually see them going at it, and I actually like it. I wanna say you can clearly see Brock trying to get Cody even more "over" than ever, but does Cody even need it at this point? This is David vs Goliath and if Cody actually beats Brock, kudos to Brock. Hell, speaking of Brock, ever since he came back with this Cowboy look, I love it. It looks like he's having the time of his life in there; like the shackles are off and he gets to just be himself a cut loose and I'm here for it.

It's interesting because you hear two very different takes on Brock from various different people. Everyone agrees that he's an incredible athlete and a huge draw, but he has been known for legitimately being a dick and an outright bully to people behind the scenes (which makes him quite the authentic heel). However, I have also heard from multiple people (including the likes of John Cena and The Undertaker, among others) that he can be one of the most professional and best people to work with in the ring, and that he is a very generous performer when it comes to putting others over. That is provided he actually takes a liking to you or at least has a professional level of respect for you, which he must have on some level for Cody given how good he has made Cody look in both of their matches so far.

As for the feud, I'd be lying if I said it's a particular favorite of mine, but it has still undeniably done it's job of keeping Cody in a top spot after having lost to Roman and Wrestlemania.  Speaking of which, what as your take on that outcome? A lot of people were pissed about it because they felt that he had earned that title win given everything that he has gone through both in and out of his time with the WWE as well as behind-the-scenes. I can definitely see that argument, but I'm in the camp that is willing to "wait and see" and "let things play out" since I can see the logic that WWE may have gone with if they have a better story to tell. That said, if this doesn't end up with Cody eventually winning the title for Dusty, I really have to join those questioning WWE's booking decisions here.

I don't know what's going on with Bray Wyatt or Bobby Lashley, but I wish they'd do more with them individually. Drew McIntyre should be used more (I don't know if he was injured, but it shouldn't have taken for him to leave to get a push. He should always be in front). The only other person I feel like they deserve a shot is L.A. Knight. This guy is IT.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of Bray Wyatt myself but I can't deny that he's a big draw and it has been really strange that they just dropped his story-line with Lashley out of nowhere and wouldn't elaborate further on his "injury" that has kep him out of action since then. Lashley definitely should have been utilized better than he has been, but the recent episodes of Raw and Smackdown with him recruiting The Sreet Profits and others have basically confirmed that he is assembling The Hurt Business 2.0 which could be incredible if done right. Drew McIntyre's booking has been so forgettable over the past couple of years other than his match with Roman at Clash at the Castle last year and his triple threat match with Sheamus and Gunther (legitimately one of the best matches of the year so far, BTW). I really hope they do more with him and have him feuding for the new World Champsionship before long (which, for the record, I hate the idea of, but at least if they are going to have it they might as well use it for other top guys that aren't Roman or Cody). That said, while I'm sure I will love his match with Gunther next weekend at Summerslam, I can't see him going over Gunther when he is still hot on his streak and close to beating the all-time record for longest reign with the Intercontinental Championship, so it'll be kind of deflating to see him take yet another high-profile loss after both Clash and Wrestlemania. Though, on that subject, Gunther has been an excellent heel and arguably the best in-ring worker for any of the big guys in WWE. Seth Rollins may be their best overall in-ring talent, but Gunther can easily be this company's top heel after Roman is finally dethroned and the Bloodline story comes to an end. Genuinely every single match that Gunther has been in since he debuted on the main roster has at minimum been good, and every PPV so far has basically been a certified classic with him in it.

LA Knight on the other hand, has basically had all of the qualities of a top star with genuinely no push from the company. It's actually baffling to me how slow WWE has been to respond to the natural fan support for him since the beginning of this year, and while I still hold out some hope that they will eventually give him a prominent role, the fact that he's already 40 and they have still been dawdling around with him for all this time does honestly have me a bit worried. You clearly have a guy who the fans already love and can very readily be inserted into a top spot on the roster. Fucking use him for that!

Dominik Mysterio on the other hand has been doing great for himself as a heel and I can actually see him managing to increase in popularity as time goes on. I don't think he'll ever be a top draw in the company, but he can definitely be one of their most memorable characters for years to come.

There are some names I left out because they do nothing for me. The women division bores me, but I will say that it's about time that Shayna and Ronda is going at it. They should also be going after belts (that's don't include Tag Team in it). As much as I like Asuka, Charlotte and Rhea, Shayna needs to be included here. She's been sidelined way too much. Everyone else is whatever as well.

I genuinely like Rhea, Charlotte, and Asuka as in-ring workers, and find that Becky and Bianca are at least solid (even though they have very late 2010's John Cena style booking about them), and there are some other interesting prospects in the mix as well, but yeah, most of the women's division is rather forgettable. To be fair, a lot of that comes down to bad booking rather than a lack of talent, but I'm in the camp that feels like either go for it all the way or don't bother if you aren't going to make it as interesting as the guys' stuff. I mean, Rhea vs. Charlotte at Wrestlemania was flat-out the best actual wrestling match on the card out of both nights, so I'm not denying how great the women can be as talent. It's just that like you said, a lot of that content is really boring or forgettable.

On a side note, since you mentioned AEW, what have you thought of Collsion so far? I couldn't give two shits about Dynamite anymore, as I outright dropped it after CM Punk left (say what you want about the behind the scenes drama, but he had some of the only interesting feuds in the company byt hat point), and while I think that MJF is a great heel, he hasn't really had anyone else on his level on the mic to compete with.

As for Collision though, while I won't say that it's set the world on fire far, I have to say that it has been a breath of fresh air for me so far. It clearly has a style that is not only different from Dynamite or anything in the WWE, but that is also very evocative of classic 80's era wrestling TV. It has also had more serious style matches and less goofy comedy skits that I quite honestly find to be cringe most of the time on Dynamite and Rampage (which is a big part of why I couldn't stand watching them anymore). It has a long way to go if it's ever going to be considered a great wrestling show, but as of now, it does have me tuning in for at least part of it every Saturday Night because if nothing else I have gotten at least one if not more great matches of segments from every single show they have done so far.

[Mustang]

I don't actually "keep" up with wrestling. I mostly do the top 10's. If I like something from them I'll go check out the full segment. But anytime you want to bring up some wrestling, I'll check it out and get we can talk about it.

My thing with KO and Sammy, and just about 90% of the roster has nothing to do with their talent. I respect everyone that's wrestling today. I think just about everyone on the roster can put on a good match for the right price. Nah, to me they're just boring. Another part is that 90% are "technical" wrestlers and are all sort of Shawn Michaels/Chris Jericho. And then another part is Daniel Bryan and the "underdog" role. To be honest, I can narrow all of it down and tell you that Daniel Bryan ruined it for most of your wrestlers today, for me. I hated DB's run, and I hated the fan push. The vitriol that Bautisa and Roman got because DB got eliminated at the Royal Rumble onwards, yeah, I was done. People love their precious underdog story, and I don't.

I bring up the big guys because I'm for the big guys. While 90% (85% maybe?) wrestling now is like Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels, they're always going to put on a great match, but I'm more impressed if a big guy can keep up with them smaller guys, especially if I see one move at a fast tempo. So for me, Roman and Drew (and a few others) are the guys because they're probably the biggest you'll probably get (without the roids. Not saying anyone is juicing now, but once upon a time, yeah), and when I see small guys being dominant over some of these big guys, it rubs me very wrong (Other than Brock, Bobby and Braun, I don't think there's been anything like that, I question CM Punk and Seth though). But for the most part it's basically boredom. And I think the only thing they can do to win me over is go get some form of training in acting. As for Dominik, I don't know if he can do anything to draw me in. I get it. That's his role, but I think he might need to go back to development (only for putting on some muscle).

As for the feud, I'd be lying if I said it's a particular favorite of mine, but it has still undeniably done it's job of keeping Cody in a top spot after having lost to Roman and Wrestlemania.  Speaking of which, what as your take on that outcome? A lot of people were pissed about it because they felt that he had earned that title win given everything that he has gone through both in and out of his time with the WWE as well as behind-the-scenes. I can definitely see that argument, but I'm in the camp that is willing to "wait and see" and "let things play out" since I can see the logic that WWE may have gone with if they have a better story to tell. That said, if this doesn't end up with Cody eventually winning the title for Dusty, I really have to join those questioning WWE's booking decisions here.

Cody, Cody, Cody. I was definitely questioning why have Cody come back and lose at the time, because if it's not Cody then who? That was my thought process at the time. Now I'm of the wait and see camp, but I will say if Cody's not in that title picture after Brock and Cody decide to call it quits whenever then, yeah, I'll also join those booking decisions.

LA Knight on the other hand, has basically had all of the qualities of a top star with genuinely no push from the company. It's actually baffling to me how slow WWE has been to respond to the natural fan support for him since the beginning of this year, and while I still hold out some hope that they will eventually give him a prominent role, the fact that he's already 40 and they have still been dawdling around with him for all this time does honestly have me a bit worried. You clearly have a guy who the fans already love and can very readily be inserted into a top spot on the roster. Fucking use him for that!

Yeah, I have no idea why he's not involved in anything. It's cool that he's getting a shot for the US title, but he definitely deserves a bigger push than getting a shot at that.

I genuinely like Rhea, Charlotte, and Asuka as in-ring workers, and find that Becky and Bianca are at least solid (even though they have very late 2010's John Cena style booking about them), and there are some other interesting prospects in the mix as well, but yeah, most of the women's division is rather forgettable. To be fair, a lot of that comes down to bad booking rather than a lack of talent, but I'm in the camp that feels like either go for it all the way or don't bother if you aren't going to make it as interesting as the guys' stuff. I mean, Rhea vs. Charlotte at Wrestlemania was flat-out the best actual wrestling match on the card out of both nights, so I'm not denying how great the women can be as talent. It's just that like you said, a lot of that content is really boring or forgettable.

To be honest, I think the Women division need a shakeup. Those 3, plus Shayna, Bianca, Natalia and Iyo are the ones that should be running the division in my eyes. I don't know what the other ladies are doing, but for some reason those names can wrestle and look like they're actually wrestling and putting on a show. The other ladies in the back, what the hell's going on? Like Dominik, back to development.

As for Collision and AEW. I haven't seen Collision yet. When I said sprinkles of AEW. That's pretty much what it was. I saw Sting and Jericho in the ring together and then I watched another video of Sting and Orange Cassidy, and then I went down a Sting worm-hole back in the Nitro days. AEW is the reason I'm tired of stables. Actually, TNA is that reason, but AEW feels like there's a stable everywhere.

Anyway, anytime you wanna talk wrestling, go for it, it's just gonna take a little bit since I do most of my watching at work 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, I gave it a chance, but the Jimmy turning on Jey swerve still feels like it came out of nowhere, even after the explanation, and I think it was the first major mistake of the entire Bloodline angle that I've seen in a long while (and that's not even counting Cody losing to Roman at Wrestlemania, which I consider to be Bloodline adjacent). I do hope they can recover from this but if I'm being honest, this is near jumping-the-shark territory for me for how stupid it all feels in the name of just trying to be dramatic.

I'm also questioning how they are going to justify keeping the title on Roman all the way until at least next year's Wrestlemania without having to write him off TV for several months, but it's looking like that's what they'll end up doing which isn't exactly a great alternative considering the main champion and face of the entire company will barely even be featured on the product.

I'm still trying to hold out a little bit of hope that they can salvage this story-line, but it looks like another case of the WWE not learning from past wrestling mistakes, in this case how WCW of all companies botched the NWO by keeping it going on for too long. This could very well be the modern version of that, for both better and worse.

[Mustang]

Yeah, the Jimmy swerve might be the angle that makes the rest of this story fall flat right on its face. And Jey, "quitting" WWE, if this is legit then that's gonna hurt a lot. And for me being the on and off kinda guy that I am, you kill the story I'm interested then I lose interest in everything else. Especially when that everything else (for me) is Cody, Drew, Bobby and Knight, and I don't like the direction I'm seeing from any of them. Maybe that'll change in a couple of weeks, who knows, but I don't like all this teaming up at the moment.

I also have to question just how long will they keep Roman with the title. The length you hold the belt is cool and all, and while I'll put him up there as one of the greats in this generation, this does not solidify him as a GOAT. I'm more impressed with how many times you've won it over how long you held onto it, and that's because, unfortunately the times we're in. Again, there are no standouts. So holding onto the title this long is kinda tainted a little bit for me (still great and I still love him).

[Dr. Insomniac]

At the final season of Mad Men. I admit, I don't like it nearly as much as the rest of canon of Golden Age TV shows like Sopranos, The Wire, and Breaking Bad, and some episodes in the middle stretch can be slogs, but I've had fun so far. Though it's strange to watch it from the perspective of somebody who mostly knows Jon Hamm for all the roles he took to break away from being typecast as Don, like all his comedic bits on Good Omens and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Caught by a extremely shitty fever where I'm either burning or in chills, and I spent some of that time watching Fleabag. And I don't know if the sickness dulled my senses that much, but Fleabag was fine, I guess. There are a couple scenes that I thought were moving, and it's another role where Olivia Colman steals the show, but I wasn't wowed.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Hey, Mustang, not sure if you've followed anything with WWE or wrestling in general lately, but just had to know if you're aware of what happened at Survivor Series this past weekend?

Not only did we get a Randy Orton return (which was expected, but still great), but we actually got a CM Punk return at the very end, which very few people expected to actually happen based on the bad blood between him and WWE from his previous departure nearly a decade ago.

Whether you are a fan of his or not, this news is kind of insane and it makes me insanely intrigued to see how this effects the show going forward from here. As of right now, this is a MASSIVE blow to AEW.

[Mustang]

Yeah, I'm aware of Punk. Not exactly sure how I feel about it though. Part of me think this is HHH and whoever trying to move past the bad blood and just do whats good for business (heh). It's definitely a heavy blow to AEW for sure, but I don't know. To play devil's advocate for a minute. I was never a fan of Punk to begin with (best in the world meant nothing to me, although, he's good on the mic, I never cared for his ability in the ring), and considering that he might be a cancer in the locker room, I don't trust him. All that being said, in the end, it's on Punk.

As for Orton, that's good I guess. I guess I'm hesitant and skeptical about all of it because, in my eyes, if not Cody (or Drew) then who? When you bring in folks like a Punk, Orton and Cena, it takes away the shine from the ones that are next in line, and even with them, outside of LA Knight, again, a lot of them just fails to grab my attention. I told my brother about a week back that just about everyone that's under 36 need to go back to development and work on either their mic skills or building character. I might be contradicting myself a bit, but that's kinda why I've been keeping hush on it until someone grabbed my attention.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, while I understand Punk being a polarizing figure and you not being a fan of his, Mustang, you at least have to admit all of the things he said about The Rock over a decade ago (even if it was supposed to he a work) turned out to be pretty prophetic. He screwed Punk out of his main event spot and basically just fucked Cody's story in a matter of minutes.

I mean, I loved The Rock in his prime as a wrestler, and I get that he has more star power than just about anyone else, but to rob the spot from a guy who put in the work for a two-year build is one of the most deflating experiences I've ever had as a fan of anything. To be honest it has kind of killed my hype for this year's Wrestlemania and just the product in general going forward. And yeah, there's other talent that I like that will still get great matches, so it might come off as overreacting, but it still just feels so wrong to me (and based on other reactions, at least I'm not alone in feeling that way).