(This question was written immediately following the announcement of Sting/Darby vs. The Young Bucks, so things may have changed since then)
What are your thoughts on Sting retiring undefeated in AEW, vs. the old-school mentality of “going out on your back?”
I think that many fans assumed that the Sting story would end with him putting Darby over on the way out to give something to the “next generation”. While I can’t say for sure that Sting and Darby are beating the Bucks, even if the Bucks win, are they the guys who should be retiring Sting?
Are we past the idea that a veteran should be putting over young guys on their way out?
One of the perennial conversations about New Japan, particularly around the time of the G1 every year is about the possibility of junior heavyweights (Ospreay in years past and Hiromu more recently) being included and “moved up” more broadly. Ospreay was ultimately able to do so, but it seemingly took bulking up and a degree of change to his in-ring style. Short of others from this division also taking this or a similar approach, do you think this barrier is ever likely to be broken with any regularity, or is it too ingrained at this point?
Do you see the “new” WWE x AJPW partnership as a success and does that mean we see WWE x NJPW & WWE x STARDOM & WWE x NOAH in 2024 even with what is going on with the future of AEW x NJPW possibly being a “loophole forbidden door” in the fans eyes?
To this day watching MMA, there are fights I watch where upon first glance, I would strongly disagree with the judges decisions when it goes to decision.
John, I don’t know if you’ve talked about how you personally judge at length when covering events, but what are some of your methods into scoring a bout with the 10-point must system? Are there some aspects you’re looking for more than others such as octagon control, strikes, takedowns, etc?
As the recent accusations are not just at Vince, but as the WWE of a whole and speaking to the work-place culture, how are we to wrestle with the idea that there is a decent possibility that many people in the company - and many performers that we know and love - were complicit, or at the very least knew all about it?
Its obviously not helpful to speculate or guess at names, but will knwoing this marr the way you watch past events, and even the current product? Or do you not tar anything with this brush until names are actually brought forward? Sorry if this question is a bit of a ramble or doesn’t make sense, but I myself am just trying to get my head around the fact that I could be going back and watching/enjoying performers who maybe have done hideous things… which I suppose is like Benoit, except there you know who it is and what he did.
How do you guys balance having wives and young children against the sheer volume of content you have to consume for your jobs? Im constantly amazed at how every show you do it feels like you’ve consumed 24 hours worth of content. Do you get complaints from your significant others?
Is it true that Kevin Owens’ contract is up in December 2024? Do you think there’s any chance he jumps to AEW or do you see him as a better fit in WWE?
With WWE having so many over babyfaces, is it now more likely that Roman continues long-term in his heel role, instead of making the transition back when he drops the title.
Also, huge respect to John for asking Dana difficult questions, and for doubling down on having done so despite the backlash. That conversation on RAR couldn’t have been more timely, given all the events of the following week. Great journalism from POST as always.
I’ve noticed Eric Bischoff seems to have a negative stance on Tony Khan & AEW.
He did some appearances for them in the early years and given their connection with TNT you would think he would be a no brainer to have a working relationship with.
However, Bischoff makes a lot of negative comments on AEW some even hypocritical given things his done previously, did something happen that caused an issue?
Or Bischoff’s always been big on controversy creates cash, could it be as simple as that?
With Rossy being let go of STARDOM and many of STARDOM stars supporting Rossy and worries of a exodus to Rossy’s new vision of Japanese Women’s Pro Wrestling why is TK bashing STARDOM even he wants a STARDOM partnership along with NJPW now there is a possibly of Mone aka Sasha coming to AEW so I don’t get it? P.S. I hope the Vince McMahon stuff will be responded by a disclaimer or something if Netflix or other streaming service gets the WWE Video Library rights in the USA in the future!
Perhaps more than any other medium, Podcasts foster a hyperreal intimacy between the hosts and the audience (obviously one-sided), likely due to their grassroots origins, frequency of release, and I’m guessing that most of the audience listens to episodes privately, again reinforcing these parasocial relationships.
Have you ever had a situation where an audience member over-traveled in their expectations/understanding of the relationship (most likely out of exuberance although not necessarily) and if so, how did it make you feel and what did you do to correct this?
I believe on a late 2023 episode John wanted to drink less beer in 2024. So with that being said what are some of your favorite types, styles, and brands you enjoy? Down here we have all kinds of microbreweries everywhere and I’m sure you guys have some hidden Canadian gems that you would recommend. Also, shout out Chopped Tees.
Obviously this might sound trivial or not that big of a deal, but I’m curious would you guys ever update or change the Rewind A Smackdown intro to eliminate the “Vince” line in the song?
Also hearing the Dynamite review, Wai continued to mention the world title 3 way as the main event. I’m under the impression with the magnitude of it being Sting’s last match, and that being the hook of the show, that the tag title match Darby & Sting vs. The Bucks closes the show. Anyway keep up the good work and love everything you guys do.
John, I am a very big fan of your writing. Needless to say, they are very high quality. Your Terry Funk write up was 10,000 words which you wrote in mere days.
Seeing that an average book is about 100k words, have you considered writing a book? Perhaps a Vince McMahon biography. I cannot think another person in the world who’d be able to give an accurate and honest account of Vince McMahon. Or perhaps another topic that might interest you.
How do you clear snow/ice (if you actually do) - shovel or blower? Furthermore, if you have sidewalks, are you clearing snow early in the morning or are you getting around to it when you get around to it? Are you a salt sprinkler?
Bonus: do you have a minimum inch guideline? Are you looking at your window saying “screw them kids” if it’s just an inch on the ground?
So I obviously don’t know anything about how contract negotiations work, but I was wondering, is there a reason why wrestlers and performers can’t just refuse to have a 90 days no-compete clause in their contract? (or similar clauses that have a negative impact on their livelihood). What if a very big name like a Roman Reigns was to say “I won’t sign this contract unless this no-compete clause is removed”? Is that just not possible? Just curious if you have any insight on this kind of stuff!
@wai0937 John was partially right - almost all of my life I’ve lived in places where it was either just ice or light snow. Just moved to MN and one of the first things I did over the summer was get a 2-stage electric blower. We finally got about 6 inches of powder snow a few days ago but my wife didn’t want to be seen as the outsiders from a different state being lazy and made me use a shovel with her.
Took an hour to get our driveway + sidewalk done and in that hour all but one of my visible neighbors simply busted out their blower to handle business and move on. The blower is now allowed to be used.
