WWE's business collapsing over the last leg of Cena's retirement tour is a pretty big story. Where is that company going once Cena hangs it up?

Fightful bringing in Wrestlevotes is super embarrassing. Nothing says reliable, accurate reporting like bringing an anonymous Twitter account to help "break news." There is a reason bylines are a thing in real news.

New pod with @davidbix.bsky.social, a wide-ranging conversation about wrestling news aggregation, Gen Z wrestlers, old wrestler podcasts and like, 10,000 other things

I wrote about Mercedes 2025, where she has used her star power to elevate women's wrestling around the world in a way her contemporaries have been afraid to do.

Here is my WON Hall of Fame Ballot for 2025: Modern US Briscoes Samoa Joe Mone Mox Cody Sabu Japan Hayabusa Masaaki Mochizuki ZSJ Mexico Abstain ROW Abstain NON-WRESTLERS Bobby Bruns Morris Sigel George Scott Jesse Ventura Roy Welch Grand Wizard Gorilla Monsoon

Fightful really just publishes any thought that Kross has in his head as a news story, don't they?

I loved hoping on Alan's show and watching some peak Dragon Gate, followed by the comedic chaos from the genius John Zandig

Christ

This would be like, an adult watching SpongeBob and another adult watching like, Regular Show, and the SpongeBob guy being like "only nerds watch that shit, hot chicks watch Spongebob" when the typical person thinks any adult watching kids shows is weird

Yeah, there is this very weird thing with WWE fans (and Raj is a great example because he says stuff like this all the time and has been for years) where people who love WWE are cool and normal and people that enjoy AEW are freaks. It's an incredible lack of self-awareness.

Dead

Hidden in here is also a strange piece of misogyny that "hot" girls are only capable of enjoying certain things, and not just like...regular people capable of a diverse spectrum of interests

I often worry if my long-term association with WrestlingInc has a negative impact on my image because most people that worked there seem to have just become completely unhinged losers

New podcast is out now--Author and journalist Oliver Lee Bateman joins the show to talk about his perspective as a first time hall of fame voter, Scott Steiner's career, Edge and Randy Orton's candidacy, the unique appeal of Junkyard Dog and a ton more: redcircle.com/shows/d51cb2...

You know it was a good AEW weekend because all the dumbest people are out in full force.

This was such an incredible call by Schiavone

We got to stop with "Random wrestler who had nothing to do with the show" comments on anything--it's super lazy. It would be one thing if like, Cody called out the spot because he is a big star. Stock's claim to fame is she briefly worked for AEW.

No shade at Post (its everywhere) but I think we really need to take a look at how newsworthy comments from people like Stock really are. It just reinforces this idea that AEW is some kind of cheap, barbaric promotion

Seeing allegedly smart people be like "She's so arrogant with all those minor titles!" and I am just baffled that people out there don't get what is a very standard, simple wrestling storyline.

There is nothing that makes me more pessimistic about the current state of wrestling fans than seeing people annoyed that Mercedes Mone has a lot of title belts. That's the HEAT you morons!

It's not shocking that the AI-Vince came up with a Vince-brained idea like "Bobby Lashley returns and is obsessed with Japanese culture". That is something Vince would love! Right down to signing and pushing Bobby Lashley.

The funny thing about WWE using AI is that the AI is almost certainly going through wrestling history, as presented in online reports/histories/databases, to come up with ideas--which means its mostly "learning" from old-Vince ideas. So the AI is basically just robo-Vince McMahon

the AJ vs Cena match would be destroyed by all the worst people online for not having any story beyond doing cool moves if it was anywhere but WWE, but since it was in WWE it was a "love letter to pro wrestling" in the company that hates the history of pro wrestling the most

Trim that story down.

I wrote about Cena's final year, the mistakes with his heel turn, and how WWE bungled a golden opportunity to make something memorable

Author Ian Douglass joins @jessecollings.bsky.social on The Gentlemen's Wrestling Podcast to discuss the historical lack of Black inductees into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. www.voicesofwrestling.com/2025/10/09/g...

New podcast is up. Author and historian Ian Douglass joins the show to talk about the historic lack of Black inductees and candidates in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. A great discussion where everyone will hopefully learn a lot: redcircle.com/shows/d51cb2...

God bless Tomohiro Ishii #AEWDynamite

I am not joking, these are the last four movies I've watched lol

Great thread-- we need more of this kind of analysis in wrestling because its clear that some of the performers are putting in this kind of effort to tell a story.

Just in time for WON Hall of Fame season--another PPV main event for Samoa Joe

Always a good reflection of Samoa Joe now that we are in Hall of Fame season. Between this match and his feud with Kurt Angle, Joe went toe-to-toe with two of the most acclaimed wrestlers of his era and looked on the same level. One of the best wrestlers EVER

Celebrate @aewontv.bsky.social's sixth anniversary with a look back at the 12 best TV matches of the year. It’s the 2025 Dynamite Dozen presented by @suitwilliams.bsky.social! www.voicesofwrestling.com/2025/10/01/d...

Found out today Dave Meltzer has given 80 matches this year a rating of 4.75 or higher, including 14 matches over five stars and 18 matches five flat. I know Daveflation is real but that is a wild statistic

The Takahashi vs Marufuji match was the perfect match for the show--professionally done but lacking any interest or greater substance.

New pod is out now on all feeds. Annual Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame show with Adam Berger--we talk about CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Moxley and others who have built their case over the past year, plus newcomers like Sabu, Mercedes and Jesse Ventura.

This has to do with booking rather than business--but I was thinking about what a tidy bit of booking the entire Statlander arc has been, building up the Deathriders alignment, then giving her the title, and then the swerve with her turning down the Deathriders.

I can't believe this is still a talking point days later (well I can believe it, given the fanbase in question, but still). Even the hardcore WWE fans I saw talking about the show thought it was pretty average. The irony being nobody would know of the review if WWE fans were not blasting it out.

I wrote about Kris Statlander's title win, the varied reactions to it and the balance of immense fan expectations. #AEW jasons-belated-takes.ghost.io/aew-kris-sta...

I've said this many times, but THE broad, dividing line between wrestling fans is the group of fans who hear about something they've never heard of and are curious and want to learn more--and fans who hear something new and immediately feel threatened that people may enjoy something they don't know.

IDK how much Cope was responsible for the layout of his match, but him taking every FTR move and kicking out, then pinning FTR after hitting one spear is such a Triple-H ass match.

I am not watching but please don't tell me THIS guy is back???

Joey Janela’s Spring Break Me Out of This Saudi Prison I Was Placed in for Booking Effy

In the past I feel like Dave Meltzer would write something like this--a thorough and honest breakdown of the situation heading into a huge weekend. Dave's still capable of that, but I really appreciate having people like Trish putting in the time and effort to give this kind of analysis.

RIP Taishin Nagao. An absolutely awful tragedy and I can't imagine the pain his family are going through. He was becoming one of my favourites to watch before his accident. A reason to check out AJPW shows. Nagao would have turned into a great wrestler, I have zero doubt.

A new podcast with me and @mrwarrenhayes.show talking about MJF--why he is such a lightning rod for criticism, the anxiety of AEW fans over someone "ruining" the product, his still untapped potential and a lot more. redcircle.com/shows/d51cb2...

Joe and I somehow talked for the last two hours of this show talking about the Patriots, the end of the nose tackle and discover who Jessie Tuggle's son is

Fun list here from Schneider. Love the shout out to the Cage of Death 8 man match. The Reddit clip in the story is full of people crying about the senseless violence and danger, and it illustrates how some people just don't get death match wrestling and never will. www.theringer.com/2025/09/04/w...

Words don't mean anything anymore, a certain segment of people will just say stuff because it sounds cool and biting in their childlike brains.

IIRC, one of the first things Nick Khan did in WWE was overhaul the sponsorship department in WWE because Stephanie was so bad leading it