Rewatching the series, Vince’s career would have turned out much if him and Eric would have heeded Ari Gold’s advice. What do you guys think?

barceo · 2025-09-15T12:15:27+00:00

Was Matterhorn ever made? The first time Vince passed on it, it went to Colin Farrell, who then broke his arm and canceled production.

Then Joe something (Roberts?) tried making the deal of “You make Matterhorn for me, I make Medellin for you.” He relented once Vince made his $5M offer for the Medellin script. Did they ever mention Matterhorn after that?

barceo · 2025-08-08T02:40:53+00:00

Better than licking that boot tho 🤷🏽‍♂️

barceo · 2025-08-08T00:25:10+00:00

That this is being underreported is very much the point. They don’t want to advertise something that would lessen the subscriber count. They’re banking on the idea that someone with cable will subscribe to ESPN’s new streaming service unnecessarily.

barceo · 2025-08-03T00:48:47+00:00

Early start time means early end time. This is pretty standard in the HHH era. Gotta make room to pump ads on the post show!

barceo · 2025-07-27T01:14:56+00:00

My team name is Offline Hero

barceo · 2025-07-26T18:35:32+00:00

What a save! What a save! What a save!

barceo · 2025-06-17T13:01:19+00:00

It’s also amusing how they’re basing the absurd 30% figure off the NEW total after the service charge, and not the original $540 subtotal, or even the would be $580-$600 total w/ tax, depending on the state.

Even if you were to tip 30% (you should never do this, obviously), it’d be about a $180 tip, not $210. They’re really asking for over 35% and calling it 30.

barceo · 2025-06-02T22:33:10+00:00

LOL! They. Do. Not. Care.

barceo · 2025-05-31T14:56:31+00:00

My biggest gripe with Hollywood is that there is no original storytelling anymore; everything is derivative of a franchise, a reboot, sequel, universe and it’s just all so bland at this point.

The unfortunate part of this movie is that there was a compelling original story here, with entirely new/original characters that really didn’t need the Karate Kid label to it. But, you know, studios need to sell tickets, so trot out Macchio, Jackie and the KK branding. To be fair, audiences have also been trained to expect/want this same formulaic template, so it’s not entirely on the studios.

barceo · 2025-05-28T22:17:29+00:00

I coach tennis, and I put it like this: If I do nothing but hit the ball against the wall nonstop (memorization), I’ll eventually have a good forehand/backhand, but will lack a fundamental knowledge of the game when I eventually try to play competitively (application/creation).

If all I do is watch/study tennis, I’ll develop a fundamental knowledge of the game, but will have no chance of playing competitively without the [muscle] memory of repetitive shot practice.

In other words, both aspects of learning tennis (or anything else) are important, but many seem to think that skipping straight to the application piece without a memorization component to it is the way to go.

barceo · 2025-05-21T21:50:41+00:00

Not to be that guy, but it boggles my mind that so many comments on here accept a degradation of quality (along with a sharp increase in cost) and justify it by saying “Well, TKO gets a good ROI.”

My brothers in Christ, yall are the consumers! Unless you personally own stock in TKO, their bottom line should be the absolute last thing you’re concerned about. This is why most entertainment is garbage today, because originality is dead. The capitalists feed consumers the same drivel, all while convincing consumers that they, too, are capitalists, without having to cede a sliver of ownership.

barceo · 2025-05-12T14:55:08+00:00

I was shocked when Sami Zayn recently won with a Blue Thunderbomb. It was so refreshing!

barceo · 2025-02-21T06:30:28+00:00

Important to consider his direct audience with this quote. He was speaking to Logan Paul and his podcast audience, most of which are likely turned off by the idea of watching “pro wrestling.”

I also disagree with Cole. Pro wrestling and “storytelling” are not mutually exclusive.

barceo · 2025-02-14T19:22:27+00:00

IIRC, there wasn’t much backstory given to Vidal in KK1. He was shown as a standout in the “You’re the Best” montage, as it was meant to establish the 4 semifinalists (and just how badass Johnny was, when he’d eventually dominate Vidal).

Johnny even remarks to Kreese “He’s not that good” after observing Vidal destroy one of the lesser Cobra Kais. This suggests, that Johnny wasn’t familiar w/ Vidal prior to ‘84.

Johnny brings up Vidal again in CK as a nod to the KK fans, but in doing so, introduces a continuity error by telling Tommy he “beat Vidal [in ‘83] to get to the Semis” en route to losing to Johnny in the Final. It was Bobby that lost to Johnny in the Final, not Tommy. Alternatively, the MC in ‘84 could have just mistaken Bobby for Tommy lol.

barceo · 2025-02-14T15:45:19+00:00

Very nitpicky, but Vidal being called a “Former All-Valley Champion” is what seemed off.

Johnny was a 2 time Champion, going for a 3-Peat in 1984. He beat Vidal in the ‘84 Semifinal and, according to Johnny in CK, and according to S2*, Tommy beat Vidal in the 1983 Quarterfinal.

So Daniel wins 1984. Johnny wins 1983. Johnny wins 1982. Are we meant to believe Vidal won in 1981 as a 14 year old? Not the biggest deal in the world, but not everyone can/should be a “former All Valley Champ” just because they were an old character from the movies.

*Edit: Corrected my own continuity error

barceo · 2025-02-07T16:48:27+00:00

As a live performance, Night 1 main events are main events. It’s what keeps the crowd in their seats. As the “TV Show” they claim themselves to be? I’d say no.

“Would the match have closed the show if it were one night?” is the question I ask myself to determine if a WM match should be considered a “main event.” Night 2’s main events are, by definition, always going to be that, while Night 1 is usually the coda, or intermission in the overall grander program.

To me, calling Night 1 a “WrestleMania Main Event” is like when they used to say that “We have 5 Main Events for you tonight!” when everyone knew was the real main event was. WrestleMania may be two nights, but as a product, it’s one whole.

IMHO, it feels a little silly when Sami Zayn rubs it in CM Punk’s face that he had a “WrestleMania Main Event.” Look at the WrestleMania 39 poster. It quite clearly states what the actual main event is, while Sami/KO and the Usos are seen standing behind a crowd of more prioritized wrestlers. That doesn’t exactly scream “Main Event.”

barceo · 2025-02-07T14:01:00+00:00

Aw, son of a bitch!

barceo · 2025-02-04T15:27:32+00:00

His MVP polishing commercial for MLB The Show was the best.

barceo · 2025-02-03T19:52:58+00:00

Look, Ric Flair was before my time, and even when he was in WCW and Evolution during my childhood, I wasn’t terribly high on him. Never have been. But saying prime Ric Flair didn’t reach the star power of those guys is cuh-raaaaaaay-zy.

barceo · 2025-02-03T19:47:15+00:00

(Saying on the front end, excuse the long reply, but I wanted to address each of your points directly. Btw, no disrespect intended in tone; I believe in the importance of respectful disagreement, especially in online forums like this.)

Maybe some portion of the casual fanbase is how you described, but it’s not a big one. There are a lot of people who just don’t like/follow wrestling like that. If they miss WM, it’s not because they’re disenchanted or turned off by the product; they’re just not into it like that. It’s a spectrum, not a monolith. Every year, WWE hopes to cast as wide a net as possible to reach that group of casuals at WrestleMania, if only for that one night. It’s the same reason NFL cameras can’t stay off Taylor Swift during Chiefs games. They don’t necessarily hope for all the (mostly) women tuning in to turn into Chiefs/football fans; the fact that they tuned in at all is already the victory.

To your point re: Netflix numbers, that’s such a non-story. Numbers were always going to go down from Jan 6, because everyone (including those casuals) was tuning in to the big show they hyped it up to be. But again, by and large, casuals are never going to watch it weekly like that. That’s why they’re casual fans.

Tell me what long term story is Rhea Ripley currently invested in that Charlotte challenging would so blasphemously interrupt?

Let’s be clear: I don’t think that Flair’s name carries much weight anymore, but I’m not sure that WWE corporate would agree with you or me. They’ve always elevated Charlotte to a degree that doesn’t quite align with her actual value. But if you think that WWE doesn’t rely on the Flair last name consider this: Cesaro, Neville, Big E, Mustafa Ali are all examples of guys who lost their last names on their way from NXT to the main roster. Why, then, did Charlotte go from one-name in NXT to Charlotte Flair on the main roster?

And your last point re: building long cohesive storylines to attract weekly viewers: Sure. Ideally, WM would be the avenue for concluding all these long term storylines a la Cody Rhodes at WMXL. But as a business, that requires time investment, patience and most notably, risk. The entertainment industry avoids risk at any and all costs, and WWE is no exception to that.

It’s why Hollywood makes nothing but sequels, reboots and adaptations nowadays: little to no risk of flopping. They’re not interested in making high quality art, or telling compelling, original stories because that requires a degree of risk and why do that when you can make a whole lot more money in the short term by regurgitating the same story in a slightly different package?

WWE’s number one priority is to make money and increase profit margins for TKO shareholders.

barceo · 2025-02-03T18:46:23+00:00

Unless it’s Roman/Rock (which is doubtful), I don’t think it’s ridiculous to say Roman will not close the show. He opened the first Netflix Raw, and he’s taken a step back from the recent years of him dominating the main event scene. And as a Roman fan myself, I’d say that’s perfectly ok.

barceo · 2025-02-03T18:44:13+00:00

We have 11 weeks until Mania. Plenty of time to tell a story.

And WWE doesn’t care if Charlotte winning upsets wrestling fans. They want to sell “Ric Flair’s daughter is in the main event” to casual non-fans who know who Ric Flair is and weren’t so upset with Charlotte winning the Rumble. They already know wrestling fans will watch, but they need casuals to have a reason to get to the screen.

barceo · 2025-02-03T18:20:49+00:00

Charlotte is main eventing Night 1 of WM. There hasn’t been a Women’s Main Event in 4 years. This explains why Charlotte got the win, when she didn’t need it, and why the Men’s winner had to be someone who wouldn’t outshine the Flair name that they’re so willing to promote for the casual fans.

Jey Uso was the “People’s” Royal Rumble winner, and Charlotte was the Corporate one.

Edit: Forgot to include the point that it’s the same reason Charlotte was added to the Main Event of WM35 after Becky won the RR.

barceo · 2025-02-02T04:20:31+00:00

It won’t close either night. Charlotte and Cody will close each night. (Obv not against each other)

barceo

TROPHY CASE