#I know Tony Khan is too serious about everything to do it.

[let-me-love-you-loki]

Nowhere to Run--Ch. 52

Chapter 52

           Jericho sat at the table on the patio with his face tilted up toward the late morning sky. His eyes were closed behind mirrored Aviator sunglasses as he let the sun warm him. It was quiet except for the sound of water lapping against the sides of the pool nearby. In the distance, he could hear the buzz and hum of boats on the water. He took a deep breath of the Florida air and thought about the call he’d gotten that morning.

           He’d barely gotten up when his phone went off. Jericho had snatched it up and practically raced down the hallway into his office to avoid waking up Kat. She’d had a hard time falling asleep the night before after a long day of nausea and vertigo. He wasn’t about to drag her out of the first sound sleep she’d had in days.

           The moment he shut the door behind him, he saw that it was Tony Khan on the other end. “Hey, good morning, Tony,” he said with a worried expression. “What’s going on?”

           Tony’s voice filtered down the line with the same energy that he always had. “Morning, Chris,” he replied, “I just wanted to check in and see how Kat’s doing.”

           “At eight in the morning?” Jericho didn’t mean to sound incredulous, but he couldn’t stop himself. “What’s really going on?”

           “We’re going back on the road,” Tony replied without preamble. “We’re leaving Daily’s at the end of the month. I need Kat. I need her back.”

           Jericho tossed the phone on the desk and sank down into his chair. “It’s not that easy, and you know it. Let alone the fact that she’s pregnant and she spent the last day puking her guts up. But I’m not bringing her back there pregnant while Jack Perry is still around. There’s no negotiation on that, Tony.”

           “What do you want me to do, Chris? Fire him?” Tony’s voice carried over the line with mild annoyance. “Jack didn’t do anything worth firing. He’s been reprimanded—Kenny, the Bucks, and I have had multiple conversations with him about what he did. He knows that anything else will get him in serious trouble.”

           “Serious trouble?” Jericho couldn’t help but scoff. “That’s not good enough. I won’t bring her back there with him around. If you want Kat back, you’re going to have to make some tough choices. Even then, you’re not getting her back now.”

           The line went quiet and for a moment Jericho was afraid that he’d pushed too far. He didn’t feel guilty about trying to protect Kat. As her pregnancy had worn on, she’d fallen victim to worrying morning sickness that lasted well into the day which had sometimes lead to dizziness and lethargy. Jericho had taken her to the doctor—and once to the emergency room—in the last few months because of it. She was under enough stress as it was. He wasn’t about to introduce Jack Perry into the mix, let alone all of the other responsibilities that would come with being back on the road with AEW.

           “Jack aside,” Tony began. He stopped and started again. “Honestly, Chris. How is she?”

           Jericho let out a breath and leaned back in his chair, scrubbing his hands roughly over his face. “Not well,” he sighed. He relayed everything that had happened just in the last few weeks. “I’m ready for this whole thing to be over. I feel guilty just leaving the house to walk down to the dock.”

***

           I sat cross-legged on the bathroom floor, my head against the cabinet with my eyes closed. The lingering scent of vomit turned my stomach. I tried to breathe through my mouth to avoid the smell. I was exhausted. It felt like my whole body had been stretched out and snapped back together. My hand rubbed slow circles on my stomach in an attempt to calm the flip-flopping going on in my womb.

           “Shh,” I whispered through clenched teeth. I knew that I needed to get up and take the medicine the doctor had suggested for the morning sickness. But just then, my head was spinning so bad that I couldn’t bring myself to try to stand. “Shh, baby. Please.”

           I looked up as the door opened. Jericho stood there with a glass of what I assumed was ginger ale and a couple of the tablets in his other hand. He sank down on the floor beside me, trying to hide the groan as his knees and back stretched.

           “Here, sweetheart,” he said softly as he held out the tablets. The good thing was that they were the ones that dissolved. The last time I’d tried to swallow real pills I felt like I was choking for hours afterward. “Have these and drink something. Then we’ll go downstairs and have some breakfast.”

           I shook my head as gently as I could. “I can’t eat,” I ground out before slipping the tablets beneath my tongue.

           Jericho brushed his fingers against my cheek before tucking my hair back behind my ear. “You’ll try. Something plain like the doctor said. We can try some toast or a mashed banana.”

           I closed my eyes, unsure if I could even think about food just then. The tablets felt grainy beneath my tongue and I sipped carefully from the ginger ale. I sat for a while waiting for the anti-nausea medication to kick in. It took a while for it to work sometimes, but the good thing was that it typically gave me some relief for a while.

           “A bath might help, too,” he suggested quietly. “Let me get you settled then I’ll go down to make you something to eat.”

           I sipped at the last bit of the ginger ale and took a set of deep breaths. “Okay,” I said at last. The anti-nausea medication seemed to be kicking in. Jericho nodded and leaned forward to kiss my forehead. “I love you.”

           I felt his lips curl up into a smile against my skin. “I love you too, kitten,” he murmured before getting to his feet. He reached down and helped me to stand, holding onto me tightly as he allowed my body to settle. My head spun as the room tilted around me. “I love you more than anything.”

***

           Jericho ran his hand gently over Kat’s hair, tucking it behind her ear as she slept with her head in his lap. She let out a soft sigh and settled a hand against her stomach. He’d noticed the move more often lately in moments when she didn’t think he was watching. He stroked his thumb against her cheek and felt his heart squeeze hard in his chest. It didn’t surprise him that he was overcome with an almost possessive sensation when he looked at her, but the strength of it was enough to take his breath.

           She yawned and snuggled a little closer. “Who was on the phone this morning?” she mumbled tiredly.

           “Tony,” he replied with resignation in his voice. “The show’s leaving Daily’s Place at the end of the month.”

           Kat sat up slowly before scooting to his side and settling her head on his shoulder. “That’s a good thing. Right? More of the fans can come see the show then.”

           Jericho nodded and slipped his arm around her. “Yeah.”

           She tilted her head up to look him in the eyes. He turned to meet her gaze and saw the clear expectation in it. Kat didn’t have to say anything for him to know exactly what she was thinking. He sighed.

           “He wants you to come back.”

           Kat closed her eyes and took a deep breath. He watched the color drain from her face and then rush back in to flush her cheeks.

           “No,” Jericho said firmly, surprised by the force of his own voice. “Absolutely not.”

           “It might be—”

           “No.”

           “Chris,” Kat said softly as she reached for his hand. She threaded their fingers together and squeezed as hard as she could. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while now. I don’t think I can hide from it all forever.”

           He drew her closer and kissed the top of her head. “I can protect you from it forever. I don’t want you going back there with Perry around. God knows how he’d react if he saw you again. And saw you like this.”

           She looked as if she would be ill. “I can’t honestly believe that he doesn’t already know, Chris. Do you really think this whole thing is a secret around there?”

           “The boys have kept it quiet.”

           Kat surprised him by rolling her eyes. “I’m sure you threatened them to keep them quiet.”

           Jericho couldn’t help but laugh. “I might have. But they would have kept it to themselves anyway.”

           “It’s time to go back.”

***

           Anxiety and terror spilled through me as I looked through the windshield toward the back of the building. TIAA Bank Field set over behind the little amphitheater that housed Daily’s Place. I took a deep breath as Jericho took my hand in his. The closer we got to Jacksonville, the more I worried and felt the panic start to rise up in my guts.

           “You don’t have to do this,” Jericho said softly. “I’m not on the card tonight, Kat. We can turn around and go straight home.”

           Before I could turn to look at him, the door at the back of the building opened. It wasn’t hard to identify the big frame of Jake Hager and the wild hair of Ortiz waiting in the open space. I didn’t have any doubt that Santana and Sammy were waiting inside.

           “I have to try.”

___________________

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[buttdawg]

Collision

I found the show to be enjoyable enough, although the first and last segment were really the only reasons to show up.   It was nice to see Andrade return without some bullshit mindgames involving getting guys to join his team.  And it was nice to see Miro back in action, but it’s going to take a while to see if AEW is actually serious with these guys. 

I thought all the CM Punk stuff was kind of basic, in that he was just covering stuff we already knew.  Then later, I realized that was sort of the point.  He’s been gone for so long that he sort of needs to reintroduce himself to the audience.  This whole thing has been like a big reset.  Punk doesn’t seem to have changed, but the audience has, and they’ve gotten so used to speculating about his return that it’s worth easing into it.  I didn’t understand why his first match was with Samoa Joe and BCG, but it would have been premature to have him get into a feud right off the bat. 

In that respect, having him talking smack about MJF is smart, because it’s an obvious program, but one that doesn’t have to be paid off immediately.  MJF already has business with other challengers, but it makes sense for MJF to duck Punk instead of dropping everything to deal with him.  And just because Punk has a legitimate claim to a title match doesn’t mean he gets to have it right away.  He can gripe about it every week while he does a feud with some other wrestler who thinks he belongs at the front of the line. 

Still, they really kind of need to figure out how to make Punk vs. the Elite happen.  Maybe they already have, but the crowd clearly wanted it, and I think the crowds in other recent shows have wanted it too, but they knew they’d have to wait for Punk to come back before it would be an option.  So every week, the fans are going to ask when Punk vs. Elite happens, and why they’re not getting it now.  Pundits were talking about it being a big money match last year, but now, I think it’s almost evolved beyond that.  Now, it’s like AEW almost has to do the match just to move on from Brawl-Out ‘22.  They don’t have to do it right away, or even this year, but they need a plan to do it eventually, because I think their fanbase expects a plan, and they’ll be pretty disappointed if they ever find out it’s not happening. 

Back when the whole thing went down, I thought Punk was done for good.  Either Tony Khan would cut him on the spot, or Punk would turn back into Bruce Banner and be too horrified by his behavior and resign.  I sort of wondered if the Elite would return, but then they did, and I started to think that meant Punk was really finished, but here we are.  The only thing that bugs me is that-- as far as I can tell-- they still haven’t mended fences from last September.  That just sounds irresponsible. 

Then again, if they really are planning to turn all of this into an angle, then they really wouldn’t want anyone to know they mended fences, would they?  I mean, this is where fans always fall down the rabbit-hole, because why would Punk still be that mad at Colt Cabana?  Or Adam Page, or the rest of them?  I think the fans have this baseline rationality that they want to apply to the wrestlers, where they’re all cool professionals backstage and any real-life animosity is easily sorted out.  I mean, that is how it’s supposed to be, but it doesn’t always work out that way, which is where you get fans taking sides in things like this, because if it’s truly irreconcilable, then there must be a bad guy, or we have to assume that both sides are assholes. 

At the end of the day, I just think dividing the roster in half to keep Punk and the Elite separated is dumb.  If you’re Tony Khan and you want both of them on your payroll and they hate each other’s guts, then you make a hard choice.  You cut one loose or sit both sides down and make them play nice.  But 2022 has shown me that Tony Khan isn’t the 4-D genius promoter everyone wants him to be, so yeah, I can actually see him making a second AEW just for Punk.  This is the guy who thinks Jeff Jarrett belongs on his flagship show in 2023, so there you have it. 

So I’m kind of expecting another backstage fight, because those who do not learn from history, something-something.  But I think I’ve reached a point where I don’t care whose heads roll in all of this.  I like Kenny Omega, the Bucks, Adam Page, and CM Punk, but also, fuck all of those guys.  The show was pretty kickass back when they were all suspended and Moxley was champion.  If they want to ruin their careers over Colt fucking Cabana, they can go right ahead.

[al-hekima-madara-blog]

MADARA CASTING IS OPENED !

The fandom are so dedicated nowadays to Naruto it's crazy. Have you seen this movie about Shikamaru arc fan movie? The casting is perfect, the actor playing Hidan is breathtaking and the special effect are so good.

So, watching this coming, let's start, for research purpose obviously, to cast Madara right now! It's a very important decision we need to settle together, between real fan before Hollywood casts for us Robert Pattinson (no offence Rob, but no.) I count on your active participation. I got few names to propose, tell me what do you think :

N°5 Tony Thornburg

A Japanese-Swedish model. He got a real hair potential. Before you tell me it's not enough volume and too silky, hair extension and brushing can do miracle ! He also needs to work out for 6 months and build up a more muscular body but we are very close to our goal.

N°4 Paing Takhon

Birman actor and model. First I found his back picture and I was like : YES THIS IS ...and then he turn his head and...🐣🐹 🐇aah lol ! How is that possible to have such a babyface in such aggressive body? It just doesn't match at all🤣 I don't know. Anyway what do you think? Maybe we can keep him on the side to play Izuna at this point. +1 he got a solid street credibility, he is in real life a freedom fighter. He's currently in prison sentenced 3 years for protesting against Birman governement.

N°3 Sang Woo Kim

Now we are getting serious. He is firstly known as a British Korean model but he is also an artist who expose his art in London. I follow him for a long time (research purpose obviously). He always have those striking features and cold gaze. I love the structure of his face how everything is so sharp and angular. The only problem again he is a model so very slender figure. He definitely has to hit to the gym for at least a year or two. But honestly, with a wig, who would resist his infinite tsukuyomi?

N°2 Tadanobu Asano

Before you start to complain that he is too old or not enough sexy. First Madara is above 100 years old, came back as a rotten corpse and nobody ever complain. And have you seen Mongol? He plays Genghis khan a real life world warrior who conquered the biggest empire of all time, considered as a military genius and national legend in Mongolia and remember as a terrifying power in the West. His name means power, just google it. If you can play Genghis Khan and being fantastic, you can play Madara Uchiha. Actor Credibility 100%.

N°1 Ichikawa Ebizō XI

He got the most relevant profil. First he is called Ichikawa Ebizō THE ELEVENTH? Are you eleventh in your own family line? can you tell me the name of your eleventh ascendant? No you can't. Ok first he is kinda prince of traditional kabuki acting. And secondly sometimes he does cinema that's how I discovered him playing Hara Kiri : death of a samurai. I was so intrigued by his acting, there was something so different from his co-actors. Well the difference is both blood heritage and genius, mmh... doesn't it ring a bell to you? Ichikawa Ebizō the eleventh surely doesn't need neither you and I combined to tell him how to play Uchiha Madara. He doesn't need context, he is the context. Just turn on the camera and he will do his magic. Only issue : the budget is going to be sky rocking but what wouldn't we do for the GOAT?

NB ; after checking since his father died in 2019, he is now called by the name Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII😭 I'm sorry but Madara deserves royalty, nothing less.

Please if you have other profils let me know asap, that's a serious investigation we need to do for science's sake !👀👀

[hikarus-shida]

Jungle Boy: "Meant to Be"

Jungle Boy x gender neutral!reader

genre: friends to lovers

warning: cursing, the word vomit is written but like no one vomited (idk just a warning in case), also overthinking

summary: jungle boy and the reader have been friends since they both began at aew. reader begins to catch feelings for him

requested by: anonymous (I hope you enjoy!)

Masterlist

Tag List: @cutierocker202

I based this imagine off of my headcanon version! For some reason, I feel very off my game for imagines. I hope you all enjoy this though!

*I do not own this gif!*

You and Jungle Boy had been best friends ever since the two of you have been at AEW. Your friendship was one that everyone wished they had; the two of you always hung out with each other, always happy and smiley, it was never a dull moment. Jack knew how to put a smile on your face and was always there for you.

At first, it started off with a harmless crush. You thought it would go away as your friendship grew and you even forgot about it at one point, but then it reignited. You saw Jack hanging out with Marko and Luchasaurus, goofing around. The smile that stretched across his face and his sweet laugh that always made you weak in the knees, how shy he would act - it did a lot to you.

Much to your dismay, you had a hard time hiding that you liked Jack since all of your friends didn’t think the two of you were “just” friends anyways. Of course, those things always happened when two people are close. Your friends never bought it though when you said you didn’t like him like that; it almost scared you knowing that your cover was blown.

Surely, you understood why they thought that though. Jack was a caring friend and person in general, that’s why you liked him so much. He would give you hugs (just because he knew you needed one), rub you after matches, get you a drink without asking, and so much more. It was as if he paid attention to you and your needs, always fulfilling them even when you didn’t ask or request him to. He was too good to you, and you couldn’t imagine what more he’d do for you if he was your boyfriend.

Your friends, on the other hand, grew sick of watching you two pine over each other and not even realize it. One night in the locker room, you had vented to Sonny Kiss about what to do.

“Sonny, I just don’t know,” You cried, “What if I make a complete fool of myself? Then Jack will never talk to me again and I’d ruin our friendship. The best friendship I’ve ever had, literally. I’d never find another Jack, Sonny. I can’t do this.” You were stressed, freaking out over this actually, and Sonny couldn’t help but feel sad for you. You may have been a bit over dramatic, but in that moment it felt warranted.

Sonny had to give you some tough love though and that’s what you got. “Love, I hate to break it to you, but I think you just might be overthinking all of this. Jack wouldn’t stop talking to you over it. And actually, I’m kind of sick of you two acting like you don’t like each other. You need to get your head out of your behind and realize it! You and Jack were made for each other. I don’t know how either of you can’t see that.” The words were stressed as they came out of Sonny’s mouth. You had rethought everything and god, were you scared to face Jack. It was hard enough trying to give yourself the confidence needed to tell him you liked him, but thinking about the fact that he may like you? It was almost like going back to square one all over again. You knew Jack like the back of his head and he was absolutely not the type to tell you whether or not he liked someone.

You knew it was now or never though. After saying a quick goodbye to Sonny, you were on the hunt for Jack. He had just came back from a match, a sweaty mess as he ran a hand through his hair. What had taken you aback and actually infuriated you was one of Tony Khan’s newest assistants coming up to Jack, acting extremely flirtatious. You could practically feel the steam coming out of your ears and it didn’t matter whether or not Jack reciprocated it, you hated to see someone that wasn’t you being that way with him.

Your feet moved with purpose as you walked to the pair, staring down the assistant as you dragged Jack away to an empty spot. “Y/N, thank god you saved me from her-,” He began to say, you felt his gratitude but you didn’t want to talk about that right now.

Your word vomit took over and you spilled out how you felt to Jack, every single word. “Jack, this is going to be so awkward and I’m sorry. I know we said this would probably never happen but it did. I like you. I really fucking like you. Watching you over there with that lady, it just drove me nuts, I can’t even tell you. I like you so much it hurts. And if you don’t feel the same, that’ll hurt even worse but I’d understand. I don’t want to ruin our friendship, but you needed to know.” You could feel the tears in your eyes as you waited for his response, stress infiltrating your body and your nerves shot.

Jack stood there in silence, processing everything. He knew that he liked you - he had actually liked you for a while now, he just never said it. He began to laugh to himself, thinking about how the two of you had been running in circles like headless chickens and stressing yourselves out over liking each other... just for you both to feel the same.

“Jack, this isn’t fucking funny. If you don’t wanna be friends anymore, you could’ve just said that instead of laughing at me.”Now you began to feel extremely humiliated. You wanted to walk away, but Jack had pulled you back and kissed you. It was something you hadn’t expected and it felt like you were stuck in the ground unable to comprehend what was going on until you finally kissed him back.

Jack pulled away and had a sheepish smile on his face, “I like you too, Y/N. You know, you talk and curse a lot when you’re stressed. It’s cute, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. You know, Marko actually told me to tell you this a couple hours ago.” He had said the last part as if it was nothing, but really you wanted to hit him.

“Are you serious, Jack? You should’ve told me. You know how much courage I had to build up to tell you?” You whined, throwing your head back for emphasis. Jack muttered a “sorry”, but you didn’t take him or what he said personally. You knew that Jack wasn’t a relationship kind of guy, so of course he was going to be a shy and clueless idiot. At least, you two were finally in this stage.

Jack had ended up asking you out in that same moment. It shouldn’t have been shocking, but to you it was. For some reason, you had expected nothing to come out of this, even though he reciprocated the feelings. You left Dynamite with a boyfriend, totally not shocking any of your friends. It seemed like everyone was waiting for this to happen; for you and Jack to come to your senses.

[dreadwhoop]

Reviewing the All Elite Wrestling personnel (Part 3) -

Part 0 - https://dreadwhoop.tumblr.com/post/664666668755304448/reviewing-the-all-elite-wrestling-personnel-part Part 1 - https://dreadwhoop.tumblr.com/post/664668831543967744/reviewing-the-all-elite-wrestling-personnel-part Part 2 - https://dreadwhoop.tumblr.com/post/664669134827732992/reviewing-the-all-elite-wrestling-personnel-part

REMOVE

Remember last year I put in Alex Marvez? He still sucks of course but he was the substitute for this guy who got a stay of execution thanks to outside interference! In other words I wanted to give the guy a second chance - despite my gut feeling it won't manifest into the same outcome as, say, Miro or even Ortiz wisening up to the business. The short answer is this guy hit his glass ceiling a long time ago in AEW and has devalued all who work with him to the point he's even been a serious contender for both the TNT and World titles, ranked No.1 in singles, and has a visual win over Kenny Omega. Tony Khan needs to cut this guy before he does more damage to the reputation and momentum of this company now they have talent who are more than capable of replacing his comedy routine. The time for bush league antics is over. Oh and James Cipperly? Just for the record CM Punk had the class to give your fan some shoes what did you give him? The cold shoulder. Go consider some rope and lighter fluid.

Or 2.0 - the team which deserved nothing and got everything. Sure they took losses but they have wins too and, more importantly, took slots away from others. Now would I also include Daniel Garcia here? No. He's just as stupid for associating with these clowns but he's a good 15 years younger too so there's time to untie those amateur knots. These guys are hazards to the concept of rankings and establishments - how dare Tony Khan try to treat them with the reverence of other new signings - the post-show scrum after All-Out in September and the reminder Tony Khan had to make on their signing tells it all about how people think of them. Waste of time and effort. Calling them flash-in-the-pans would be a compliment.

What a disappointment. I had hopes for her but she turned into a Brandi Rhodes substitute, looking ridiculous in the ring against women like Jade Cargill, and with one of the worst botches this year on her moonsault she'll never hit as good as Julia Hart, her gimmick is lame, her association with Big Swole is bad, and has zero presence with the fans in her promos or work. She doesn't even have a strong enough look plus has poor taste in men! Now we have the likes of Thunder Rosa full time, Ruby Soho on board, and plenty of choices elsewhere, she's not needed at all.

Excalibur is a condescending egomaniac who has to hog the glory of commentating because he genuinely believes he is irreplacible due to knowing the names of holds even the ones which have yet to be officially named by the wrestlers themselves! Aside from his annoying cliches to say "swing and a miss" or how he laughs like a eunuch, the worst traits are when you got guys like Eddie Kingston, CM Punk, Taz, and more, all on the commentary booth doing a better job part-time than he can full-time and he knows it due to how he has to get the last word in and rarely allows things to breathe. A smothering sycophant for himself and a detriment to the professionalism of AEW. Get this glorified smark out of here.

Everyone knows Luther is only here because he's friends with Chris Jericho. His gimmick and run had run dry long before he embaressed himself on TV against his said friend but the biggest crime is how many Dark and other YouTube matches he's main evented with Serpentico. He is taking a valuable spot away from other talent for airtime who could get over or learn how to apply themselves. If he wants to stay as a behind-the-scenes coach go for it just get this guy off TV because at this point I'd rather see Billy Gunn or Tully Blanchard wrestle more...actually don't take this suggestion seriously just get all the elder statesmen off save for maybe Sting or Jericho - if you can go you have to be able to go with the young guys or else get out.  

A big mistake by Tony Khan to bring him back. This guy has bad news written all over him and is an unprofessional 'toss pot'. I don't care how talented he is we can throw the word 'talent' around to at least 50 underutilised guys on AEW this year and nobody missed this guy when he retired over and over. He's back for what reason exactly? Certainly not to be the next Orange Cassidy HAHAHAH can you imagine? Maybe Tony Khan really brought him back because he's a simp for Danielle Fishel and who can blame him? Topanga is an icon of TV. I dunno why she fawns over Lio but it's the only value he's ever had as a person. Get her as his manager or get this boy out of AEW's world.

To be fair it's not like he's been completely abhorrent however this man may have the luckiest career in all of pro-wrestling. He's been to the top in WWE, ended up being the last Lucha Underground world champion, and has remained relatively strong on TV despite being a charisma vacuum who wrestles like any journeyman would in the mid-70s. Out of style from day 1, Hager's allure was being the 'big man' yet we don't need another one like him we already got enough...and for technicians? Are you really going to compare him to the likes of a Danielson? I didn't intend to turn this into a 'get rid of Jericho's friends' situations but like Luther this guy has had enough air time and needs to give the others their time to shine as his star has dulled

Brian Cage was a tossup between him and Luchasaurus and Luchasaurus only escaped being removed on merit of having a story to tell with Jungle Boy when they finally decide to split or cease being a tag-team. They're both equally as bad though when it comes to the awkwardness of their abilities to be bigger guys who don't act as power wrestlers but instead high-flyers or try to utilise movesets which aren't appealing at all to the point of becoming tiresome. It's a shame though - Brian Cage isn't bad he's simply no longer needed. The biggest flaws about machines? They can't adapt without assistance.

I feel really sorry for doing this. I don't want to cut the guy - he's a great athlete who gets wrestling and can be a good spokesman for disabled sportsmen yet those eye issues are frightening and every match I'm worried he'll go completely blind. It's exactly why we've not seen much of him since - 10 surgeries is not looking great (I'm also sorry for the puns) and it sucks because of how well he did against Cody. Even if he were healthy who would he be slotted against? Pac because of a Brit Vs Brit scenario? What about Miro to stand up to bullying? He's a curious what-if but sadly what is right is for him to step away from being a competitor and focus on staying healthy.

Well well this must shock a few people and I know what some are thinking - if I was going to put a high-profile talent, like I did with Jon Moxley last year, why not Cody instead of Adam Page? It's fairly simple - Cody gets the business. Adam Page doesn't. Cody is slowly turning into a uniquely interesting heel who is going to be the guy everyone wants to see lose. Adam Page is a guy we've waited to see win and yet when it counts he has faltered at the critical hurdle. Now, even if he were to win, to gain it all, it's going to look fragile in the eyes of the rising talent and established newcomers. Adam Page had to be booked as unstoppable BEFORE the All-Out PPV and instead he loses his title shot, he loses with a group of people who are regarded as losers (even though only one of them has a negative score), and he's had a gimmick for the entire duration of AEW as being a simpering drunk who can't focus on getting it done. The Dark Order should of transformed into the Dark Riders, Adam Page their leader, and gone on a winning streak together. Guess not. Oh and I'm aware since starting, we've seen his return from a 2 month absence to win yet another title shot. Is this the one? Let's say it is. Then what? He's going to feud with people who will need to be kept strong so the wins over them matter more because this is it - Adam Page cannot lose anymore. How on earth the fans are behind him still is beyond me but then they like Jon Moxley or Orange Cassidy and who am I to argue about their tastes? They even liked him OVER Moxley! For me though it's too late to justify and the ship is sinking even if it makes port. It cannot be reparied or sail to new lands. Adam Page is a lost cause who still has enough of a map to chart the next few months but years? No. He's not the future of AEW. He's the shining example of what you don't do to a talent people had expectations of being the future. Adam Page is a memory of what AEW was before it became big-time and as long as he's on top it'll never break into the next level of popularity.

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #474

Top Ten Characters Who Came Back from the Dead

I am stunned – stunned! – that I’ve not done this one before. I mean, come on! It’s right there.

So there’s obviously a thematic resonance going on here. This weekend – the weekend you’re meant to be reading this – is famous where I come from because of a story where someone came back from the dead. Unlike other holidays – Christmas, Halloween, the release of a Star War – I’ve actually been a little slow off the mark in making lists that celebrate Easter. I’ve done eggs and bunnies, but incredibly I’ve never done resurrections, which really is the day’s whole deal. I mean, if you get down to brass tacks, it’s kinda the big selling point of the entire religion really. I hesitate to say “USP” because, well, it’s been done elsewhere, but it’s still supposed to be one of the big Christian takeaways (there’s definitely a chain of Christian takeaways in the States, isn’t there?).

Anyway, resurrection. It’s actually more common than you might think. Certainly in terms of comics there are probably more characters who’ve “died and come back�� than have never “died” at all. But! And this is where I get pernickety. Most characters who “die” don’t actually die. Take Batman for instance: he’s shot in the face by Darkseid, and then Superman ups and finds his charred corpse, but – shocker! – he’s not actually dead, he was just sent back in time, where he Quantum Leaps his way back to the present day, accumulating enough Omega Energy with each leap that by the time he reaches the present day he’s blow a hole in reality. Or something, I’ve not read that story for quite a few years. Anyway: he wasn’t dead. Neither was Sherlock Holmes, or for that matter Dirty Den. Generally speaking, if someone dies in a story and then reappears, they’re not dead. Not really.

So this list here is supposed to be people who actually died. Now, even here, it’s debatable; I mean, is E.T. dead, or does his body just go into some kind of hibernation? If Optimus Prime’s brainwaves survive, does he ever really die? Is a clone someone coming back to life or not? It’s all a bit wishy-washy really, which kind of makes sense when you’re talking about resurrection. And let’s not get onto the chief resurrector, the Doctor; do they die every time they regenerate? Or is the regeneration itself a way of staving off death? When David Tennant turned into Matt Smith, did the Tennant-Doctor die? “I don’t want to go,” and all that; there’s always a subtle (or not-so-subtle) change in personality. Does that count? Well, for the purposes of this list, I’ve kinda decided it doesn’t. But it’s an interesting discussion to have, if you’re a big old nerd like me.

So yeah: people who have died – properly, I suppose – and then come back to life. That’s the list. No fakery, to mistaken identity, no alternate universe shenanigans; they were dead but they got better (no Chev Chelios either; sorry, Stath stans). No zombies either! Or vampires! They’re not undead; they were dead, and now they’re alive again. That’s the rule. Also I’ve seriously tried to limit comic book characters. And I’m sure there are some big omissions (like, I know there’s one from Game of Thrones that’s not on here, but that’s because I’ve not seen that far into the show yet; I know, I know). But I reckon these are the best at being back.

Optimus Prime (Transformers franchise, from about 1987): OP is the OG when it comes to coming back to life. Dying and then stopping being dead is pretty much his thing. Technically the first time he came back from the dead was in the original animation; famously being offed by Megatron in The Transformers: The Movie (1986), he came back to life a year later. Subsequent media have frequently killed him and brought him back, even in the live-action movies, but I want to talk about the comics. Because the original Marvel run killed off Optimus at a similar time as the cartoon; he’s blown up in slightly contrived circumstances, but his brain is saved on a floppy disk. Two years later he has his body rebuilt and his brain restored and he’s off to the races once more. Then in 1991, when facing down planet-eating mega-bastard Unicron, he sacrifices himself again, but this time his personality has begun to merge with that of his ostensibly-human companion Hi-Q. Hi-Q/Prime is converted/rebuilt into a new body, and he wins the war. So there you go: even in this one sliver of continued continuity – not including off-shoots or spin-offs, let alone other iterations of the overall franchise – Optimus Prime died and came back to life twice. Beat that, Easter.

E.T. (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982): not much to say here that we don’t already know from the Book of Spielberg. E.T., doddery little alien magic-man, grows sicker and sicker as he’s stuck on Earth, until in a thrillingly-edited set-piece he seems to expire, human doctors unable to help him. “I know you’re gone,” says best bud Elliot, “because I don’t know what to feel.” But then! His heart glows! His colour returns! And he positively yells, “E.T. phone hooooooome!” – and Elliot’s euphoric laugh is just devastating. The whole sequence – what is it, ten minutes? Fifteen? – is masterful in every way, from the technical to the performative to the emotional. Bloody magic is what it is.

Gandalf (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 1954): Gandalf the Grey famously leads the Fellowship of the Ring across the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, where he faces off against a Balrog. After a bit of “you shall not pass” and all that, they both fall from the bridge, battling each other on the way down, before both perishing at the bottom. Gandalf, though, is not really Gandalf, but Olórin, one of the Maiar – basically a kind of angel, I guess. He is returned to Earth by the powers-that-be to complete his mission, and is promoted to Gandalf the White, supplanting the corrupt wizard Saruman. This new iteration of Gandalf is a bit more serious and steadfast, although he does retain his fascination with hobbits. Regardless, he gets a terrific death scene and a triumphant resurrection, and how it ties into Tolkien’s wider mythology is interesting.

Superman (DC Comics, 1993): comic book characters die and come back all the time; it’s pretty much a staple of the medium. I guess Jean Grey/Phoenix is probably the most famous, but they’ve all done at some point (even if, like in my Batman example earlier, sometimes they don’t actually die). Anyway, Superman died, very famously, after getting into a tremendous barney with genetically-engineered super-git Doomsday (as famously, and atrociously, depicted in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice). The whole “Death of Superman” arc is interesting and entertaining as an example of mid-nineties big-panel EXTREME storytelling: as the issues tick down to the fateful scrap in Metropolis, the number of panels-per-page is reduced until the final issue is basically just full of splash pages. It’s a terrific, exhilarating rumble, really selling the heft of the confrontation. Interestingly, the comic spends a lot of time afterwards dealing with life without Superman, as a raft of imitators/wannabe successors emerge from the woodwork; these include the best-ever Superboy, Conner Kent, and Steel, who’s basically Superman meets Iron Man. Eventually, of course, Superman comes back, his body essentially having been sent to a Kryptonian day spa to recuperate; he emerges clad in black and with a mullet, so death obviously has some lasting repercussions. Overall, it’s a whopping arc with long-term consequences, and whilst it’s easy to make Christ parallels when discussing Superman, this story doesn’t really hew that way (unlike the Snyder-verse which really goes all-in on that plot point, much to the films��� detriment). One of the better aspects is how, even in death, Superman is an inspiration, which in itself has a long trail; leading, eventually, to Batman’s famous withering diss, “the last time you inspired someone was when you where dead.” Anyway, I’ve gone on about this far too long.

Spock (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, 1984): let’s start by acknowledging just how great Spock’s death is in Wrath of Khan. As a plot point within the film, as a piece of staging and performance, and as a landmark moment in this franchise, it was seminal; a death for the ages (as an aside, it’s crazy to think Star Trek as a whole was only sixteen years old when Spock died; the MCU was eleven when Tony Stark clicked the bucket). Anyway, they built an entire film around how to bring him back, and Spock as we know him is absent for much of it; a presence looming over everything as he rapidly ages, going through his Vulcan super-puberty and everything. It’s actually a rather sombre film as Kirk’s son is killed and the Enterprise blows up; bringing back Spock comes with a very real cost. Trek III is not one of the top-tier films – in the loose trilogy that comprises Khan, Spock, and The Voyage Home it’s certainly the weakest – but it’s still pretty good, often underrated. And, of course, it brings back Spock, which is nice.

Agent Coulson (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., 2013): Coulson’s death in Avengers comes as a huge shock, one of the fan-favourite characters being brutally offed in surprising fashion. In a film chock full of super-people, it’s the ordinary guy who buys it tragically. However, did any of us really think he was dead-dead? And so barely a year later he pops back up in the TV series Agents of SHIELD. However, his reincarnation became a recurring plot point; his references to spending time in Tahiti (“It’s a magical place”) becoming increasingly sinister as we come to understand even he doesn’t know how he’s back up and running. The eventual truth – Nick Fury using painful and transformative alien tech to basically bring Coulson back to life – may be a bit underwhelming, but it gave Clark Gregg a lot of meat to chew on dramatically speaking, and it underscored a lot of his character development going forward (especially when he, yes, died again, and then sort-of came back, twice).

Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 2001): full disclosure: I never watched Buffy religiously. I think I just missed it at the start and it was only when all my friends were talking about how great it was that I started tuning in more regularly. Weirdly, I think the most I watched it was around the time Buffy died and came back. It’s fascinating, really, and full credit to the show for the way they explored it; in a series full of magic, the afterlife, and the undead, bringing a character back to life isn’t too shocking. Willow, Buffy’s witchy mate, resurrects her with magic; but in an excellent twist, it turns out that she was in Heaven, and is super pissed off to be pulled out of paradise and stuck back on Earth, leading to her feeling depressed and alienated all season. That’s a great hook for bringing a character back, and leads to some meaty stuff for Sarah Michelle Geller to do.

Agent Smith (The Matrix Reloaded, 2003): do you ever feel that The Matrix has slipped from popular culture a little bit? Twenty years ago it was ascendent, rivalling Lord of the Rings for the title of “the new Star Wars”. Everyone was copying it. but now hardly anyone talks about it. probably because it hasn’t had a multimedia shelf-life comprising dozens of games and spin-off shows. Maybe the new film will change that. But I digress; Hugo Weaving is tremendous as Agent Smith in the first film, and is exploded at the end (spoilers) by Keanu Reeves’ Neo. Unsurprisingly – especially as he’s, well, just bits of code – he’s back in the sequel. However, he’s now been corrupted; he becomes, basically, a virus, self-replicating and threatening not just our heroes but the Matrix itself. This builds across two films, as Neo has to fight dozens of Smiths in the famous “Burly Brawl”, before the final conflict in The Matrix Revolutions when it seems everyone in the program has been Smithed. It offers Weaving a lot of scenery to chew on and makes for some great set-piece battles, even if the films themselves are a little disappointing.

Olaf (Frozen II, 2019): let’s not beat around the bush here – Olaf carks it in Frozen II. Okay, maybe Elsa dies; maybe Anna dies in the first film. They’re frozen, right, but I feel like it’s “magic ice” and there’s something going on there. Do they come back to life or were they ever really dead? Anyway, Elsa is effectively “gone” but we get a protracted death scene for the comic relief talking snowman. He literally fades away, slowly dying in Anna’s arms, and melts into a flurry of snow that blows away. People talk about Bambi’s mum all the time, but mark my words; “Olaf’s death” is going to be cited as a major traumatic incident for twenty-year-olds in 2030. His resurrection, truth be told, is slightly less great, Elsa just straight-up bringing him back to life, reminding us that “water has memory” to let us know that it’s the same Olaf and he remembers everything (including, presumably, dying? That’s creepy). And that, to be honest, is where I draw the line; sentient wind and rock monsters I can handle, but we all know homeopathy is bollocks.

Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, 2019): look, I hate this. But let’s deal with it anyway, because I have a funny feeling it’s going to lead to some quite interesting stories being told in spin-off Star Wars fiction. I personally feel quite strongly that Palpatine should have stayed dead. And maybe he did? We are led to believe that the Palpatine we see in Rise is a clone; there are jars of stilted Snokes floating in the background. He’s all knackered and broken, eyes blackened and fingers dropping off; clearly he’s not well. So is he really the same character at all? Is his Sith essence somehow fed into this new body, the way Prime’s mind is downloaded from a floppy disk (“run prime.exe”)? Let’s say it counts, let’s say he’s the same slimy Palps we know and love. He is, at least, a sinister presence, and like I say, the whys and wherefores of how he came to be back is quite interesting. There’s a fascinating story to be told about the rise of Snoke and the seduction of Ben Solo – a more interesting story than anything told in The Rise of Skywalker, for starters. Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian seems to be researching cloning and seeks to extract midichlorians from a Force-sensitive being; are we to conclude that this in service of making a new body for the Emperor? All this – stuff hinted at but not explored in the film itself – is, like I say, interesting if not outright fascinating. And I agree, there is a certain degree of circularity in bringing back the series’ Big Bad for the final instalment. But I still feel, hand on heart, that it undoes a lot of the victory of Return of the Jedi (as did The Force Awakens, if I’m honest), as well as throwing away all the development of Rey and Kylo in The Last Jedi. So: Palpatine is cool, his presence and backstory in Rise of Skywalker is suitably creepy and interesting, but on the whole it’s crap and they shouldn’t have brought him back. The end.

Ten people who definitely died and definitely un-died! What could be more Easter-y? Honourable mention goes to the episode of Red Dwarf where Rimmer changes history and ends up not being a hologram, only to accidentally blow himself up in the final seconds.

[cowboyshit]

Frayed and Worn

Characters: Hangman Adam Page, Matt Jackson

Summary: Matt misses Nick, TK tells Matt he’s tagging with Adam against Jericho and Sammy, and Matt and Adam get into an argument

Rating: Teen I guess (nothing happens but some arguments and cussing?)

Length: 2,288 words

Available below the cut or on Ao3 HERE

Disoriented.

That’s how he felt without his brother. Like he was in a dream where everything seemed normal, but there was one tiny thing off that kept telling him this wasn’t reality. That was how Matt Jackson felt as he walked the long cement-brick lined walls of the back hallways of the building they’d rented for that evening’s Dynamite. Automatic, his hand reached for his phone – he’d kept grabbing it and clicking the screen to see if Nick messaged him – yet again, no message.

It wasn’t that Nick was ignoring him. He was home, side-lined with an injury he’d sustained at Revolution at the hands of Adam Page. A flicker of annoyance crossed Matt’s face, lips pulling in a line of dissatisfaction. He clenched and unclenched his hand. It was hard not to answer to the anger inside his gut the second anyone harmed his brother. It was even harder with the way Adam had been behaving lately.

 His own voice from after Revolution echoed briefly in his mind.

“What the hell is Adam’s problem?”

“Well,” it was Kenny, spoken quietly, and an uncomfortable look crossed over him when Matt’s dark, angry stare turned toward him. “I just think there’s a lot of… I don’t know, misunderstanding and tension, and what happened at that interview beforehand didn’t exactly help matters.”

“He’s the one who started it!” Matt’s incredulous shout had bounced off the small, confined space of the medical room he, Nick and Kenny were occupying after the match.

A look of argument crossed Kenny’s face before he seemed to decide it wasn’t worth it, looking away before he sighed and shook his head.

“What? You got something to say Kenny?”

“I’m too tired for this shit right now, Matt.” He’d slid off the medical bench, careful of his newly wrapped, broken finger, and glanced over his shoulder just briefly at the brothers. He lingered for a moment, like he wanted to say more, then shook his head and walked out of the room.

Matt frowned, shaking his head and turning down another long stretch of hallway. Around him the production crew were bustling around, preparing for the upcoming show and they seemed to know to give the solitary buck a wide berth. Murmurs of dissent in the Elite were growing in number, and Matt didn’t like the way that sat inside him. There was enough to worry about with the Inner Circle and Dark Order, he didn’t want to feed them anything that might clue them in to a potential thread they might tug to unravel it all.

“Hey, Matt!”

Glancing up, the sight of Tony Khan’s smiling face brought momentary relief. Tony talked about a thousand words per minute, and Matt sometimes had to work so hard to keep up with him he knew he wouldn’t have time to ruminate over the damaging thoughts circling relentlessly in his head. He offered a slightly more tired, but still honest smile. “Hey TK, what’s up?”

“Adam’s down a partner tonight, Kenny still isn’t medically cleared. It’s Jericho and Sammy, so I need it to be someone from the Elite. Can you tag with him tonight?”

“Are you… wait, are you serious right now?” An incredulous laugh left Matt in a huff, brows pulling inward as he studied TK’s face for any sign of a cruel joke.

He wasn’t joking.

“Yeah, Matt, I’m serious.” He said the word with weighted authority. It didn’t happen often, but sometimes TK found subtle ways to remind his EVP’s who owned the company at the end of the day. “Whatever beef you two have, learn to get over it for tonight. I’m down two of my top performers in the Elite and we’ve got to push this feud to the forefront before Blood and Guts. You don’t have a match tonight, so I need you to step up and tag with Adam.”

Another breathy, disbelieving breath pushed hard from his lungs and he shook his head before rolling his eyes. “Well, does Adam even know about this?” Surely Adam would have argued against it.

“Not yet.” Tony said, fishing his phone out of his pocket as it started to ring. He glanced at the caller on the screen and then back up at Matt. “I have to take this. I’ll get someone to find Adam and tell him. You just get to the ring when you’re needed, okay?”

He didn’t give Matt any time to argue, clicking to answer the call and shooting him a look as he brought it up to his ear that said: Figure out how to be okay with it. I’m not asking you, I’m telling you.

With his hands pinching his narrow hips, Matt ran his tongue along the back of his teeth, shook his head and reached for his phone. Within mere seconds he had the text conversation with Nick shining brightly up at him and his fingers began to fly, ranting with rage at the incredulity of the situation. Two and a half sentences in, his fingers froze, and he glanced back at what he’d written, thought of Nick miles and miles away, stuck at home recuperating, and the tense set to his shoulders dropped. He clicked to highlight what he typed and deleted it, locking his phone and stuffing it back in his pocket.

Nick didn’t need to be bothered by it. He’d see when he watched Dynamite and Matt could take comfort in knowing all his frustrations would be validated afterwards. He’d probably have a ton of text messages ready for him as Nick watched from home. The ache of not having Nick by his side stung again and Matt set off in an aimless direction, wanting to get out of the line of sight and away from anyone who might come and talk to him. He went for the first door he saw that seemed to lead to an unoccupied, smaller room.

Only it wasn’t unoccupied.

“Great,” he said out loud, drawing the blue eyes of Adam Page up his front from where the cowboy sat lounging on a large black storage container. The curious light in them was immediately snuffed once they recognized Matt, and they burned almost immediately with irritation. The comfortable way he’d been sitting left too as he straightened his back and lifted his chin, glaring Matt’s way. One half of the tag team title belts sat beside him and Matt’s eyes inevitably fell to its luring shine.

Adam noticed. He pulled the strap, tucking it in a little closer toward his hip.

Their eyes drew back toward each other and Matt knew he needed to leave the room instead of continuing to test the taut pull of tension strung between them before it snapped. Already the energy was building and pushing at the walls, filling every empty crevice in the room and making him feel as though his heart was pounding a little harder.

“I’m tagging with you tonight. TK’s call.” 

He tested it.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Adam immediately spat, and that pure, hot hatred in his tone churned something bitter in Matt’s stomach. When had this happened? When had they gone from friends, from brothers, to this? Had Adam always hated him? 

“Wish I was.” Matt said and pulled his eyes away. There was so much more he wanted to say, but it seemed like every time he tried to talk to Adam, things went sour and got worse and worse. Especially when it was just between themselves.

“Well,” Adam rolled his eyes and lifted a cup to his mouth to take a swallow. It wasn’t a clear, plastic cup that let him see what Adam was drinking, but Matt didn’t need three guesses to know what it probably was. Adam shoved himself hard off the storage container and gathered the belt, hoisting it with a comfortable ease on his shoulder. He’d grown accustomed to its weight. Matt tried to ignore the way his stomach turned, and his own shoulder ached, wanting to feel that familiar, comfortable weight on it again. To stop letting everyone down who’d looked to him and Nick to be among the first of the tag team to hold them. Adam took a step as if he meant to move past Matt, and Matt stepped toward the side to give him the space to do so.

But Adam paused in front of him.

“Get used to standing on the apron, because I sure as hell won’t be tagging you in.”

“Adam are you serious?” Matt scoffed, staring at his profile. “You’re so caught up in your bullshit that you want to try and take on Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara by yourself?”

“Yeah, Matt, I’m serious.” Adam said and turned so he and Matt could stand face to face. The overhead lights glittered playfully on the belt and tried to draw Matt’s attention, but he clenched his jaw and glared into Adam’s face instead.

“You can’t take them by yourself.” He heard the incredulity and doubt in his tone but did nothing to soften the blow. This close, he could see the way Adam’s eyes brightened with the challenge.

“Like you’d be any fucking help to me.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” They both knew he wasn’t, so Matt didn’t pause long enough to expect an answer. “Do you really think I’d just hang you out to dry with Jericho and Guevara?”

He had a brief flash back to Adam, pinned by his body weight against the ring canvas. His fingers clenched and unclenched, remembering the way it felt to have his fists come down again and again and again and again… How he’d been overcome by some senseless rage that he lost comprehensive thought until Nick physically pulled him away and threw him back against the ropes. Matt remembered the way Nick had looked at him. It was one of the things Nick did best, communicating without words strong enough to check his brother’s rage. Without Nick, Matt struggled to restrain himself.

His eyes refocused on the present. Hangman was watching him.

“I don’t know what the hell you’re capable of these days, Matt. But I sure as hell know I don’t need you, I don’t need your brother, I don’t need Cody - hell! I don’t even need Kenny! I got this. All on my own.”

“All on your own, huh?” Matt laughed, but there was no humor in it.

“Yeah!” Adam’s voice was sharp, a sudden increase in volume that smacked the walls and reverberated around them. “On my own, Matt. Just like I pinned you at Revolution and just like I saved yours and Cody’s ass from the Inner Circle last week. On. My. Own.”

They were so close their bodies were almost touching. Mere inches, maybe even centimeters, lay between their heaving chests as they took deep breaths and glared into one another’s eyes. Matt could feel the heat rolling off Adam’s body. Out of the corner of his eye the shining, unfocused haze of the belt on Adam’s shoulder tried to lure him again. Matt refused to give in to the urge to look its way. He wouldn’t give Adam the satisfaction either, knowing he would pounce like a ravenous dog feasting on what he perceived to be true: all Matt cared about was taking the belt from him.

That wasn’t it. Not exactly.

“You’ve become a real dick lately, you know that Adam?”

Adam’s brows jumped upward and a smile smeared across his face. “Oh, I’ve become a real dick?” He pointed at his chest and raised his brows higher, creating wrinkles over his forehead. The smile pushed a little wider across his mouth. The humor Adam wore had a bite to it. “Well, I suppose you only have yourself to thank. I’ve learned from the biggest one of them all.”

Hurt and anger exploded inside Matt, and it took everything not to raise a fist and swing right then and there. It’d be satisfying to wipe that taunting expression off Adam’s face, and it’d be satisfying to get the energy built up inside him out by swinging wildly when Adam fought back. He didn’t care who was goading who, he just knew it’d feel damn good to stop thinking and holding himself back and just let Adam have it. There wouldn’t be Kenny or Nick come to break them up. Who knew how long it’d be before someone heard the commotion of them fighting and came into the room to break them up? How much more damage could they inflict on one another?

Another few, tense seconds crawled by before Adam lifted his paper cup and drained the rest of whatever he’d been drinking, eyes staying locked with Matt throughout. When he lowered it, crumpling it in his fist, Matt’s eyes went from Adam’s mouth then back to his eyes. The blue there was dark and troubled. He turned away without saying another word and reached for the door.

“It’s Inner Circle versus The Elite, Adam.” Matt said at his back as Adam turned the handle, hating the defeated, tired tone he could hear creeping into his voice. His back suddenly ached worse than it had all day. Or maybe it wasn’t just his back, but his entire body. His heart. Everything felt heavy. He didn’t bother turning to look at Adam’s back. “We have to do it.”

Adam laughed dryly and started to open the door. “When the fuck is it going to get through your heads I’m not apart of The Elite anymore?” Matt didn’t answer and Adam didn’t wait around for him to. He took off through the open door, leaving Matt alone to stomach the sour taste on his tongue.

[unoficialy-married-to-ace-austin]

I posted 1,829 times in 2021

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For every post I created, I reblogged 1.7 posts.

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My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Show me a member of the Elite who ISN’T a himbo. I dare you!

86 notes • Posted 2021-11-21 00:25:50 GMT

#4

Hey, love your blog so much!! Just wondering if I could request either oneshot or headcannon (Sorry I’m way too indecisive to try and pick one) with Roman Reigns x male reader. Reigns would be readers first bf, and be really overprotective and loving of him. Thanks 😊

AN: Thank you dear! It always makes me so happy to hear people like my works💗I hope you like it.

Warnings: Some Nsfw themes

Roman Reigns x Male reader Headcanons

Roman is so god damn sweet with you.

Especially with him being your first boyfriend.

He is supper into cuddling.

He can be the little or big spoon.

Sometimes he likes to hold you close to his chest

Other times he’ll lay with his head on your lap so you can play with his hair.

Over protective as fuck

If anyone makes a snarky comment he’ll take you and reassure you of any/everything.

Of course later he finds the person and ‘chats’ with them. 

Roman is a hopeless romantic.

Candle light dinners.

Romantic walks though the park to look at the stars

Long romantic vacations

He has the money so he will spoil you rotten

You don’t get a say in that

With him being your first boyfriend he helps you learn about sex.

Roman is a Dom. No question on that

But he can be as soft or rough as you want.

He definitely has a daddy kink

And loves to call you baby boy.

He made your first time together beautiful

Probably took you in a trip to a beach somewhere

The day leading up was spent doing plenty of fun things, before he takes you to a romantic dinner

He brings you back to the room and he had everything perfect.

Rose petals, candles, low lights. The whole shebang.

It’s slow and he told you how handsome you were the whole time.

After, he gets a bath for you both.

After care is always important to him

Taglist: @fiskers7136

Let me know if you want to be added!

87 notes • Posted 2021-06-11 05:36:56 GMT

#3

I’m not trying to be funny or even defend Karl Anderson, but what happened?

Let’s start with, I won’t say ‘the less serious issue’ but more of ‘a lesser of two evils’. His wife went on Twitter to say she caught him cheating on her, that his phone accidentally called her at 3am and she could here girls laughing in the background. She also stated that he’s left for 3 days at a time and she would know where he was. A link to that can be found here

Now for the second thing, and in my opinion the worse thing. As you may have heard, Daffney Unger sadly committed suicide last night/some time this morning. Last night fans got worried watching an Instagram live of her, and no one could get ahold of her all night. After this happened WWE offered mental health help to any of their wrestlers/staff who may need it, and Anderson was essentially making fun of it. He basically turned in into an other AEW vs WWE thing. Fans have called him out about it and he’s gone on to just call them ‘marks’ and tell them to fuck off. He took an extremely serious issue and made fun of it, and I will never be ok with someone who does that.

93 notes • Posted 2021-09-03 03:40:43 GMT

#2

Roman Reigns #51

Prompt: I love how your body loses control when you cum

“Come on babygirl, I know you’ve got one more in you.” Roman grunted out, slamming into you. His hands were pinning your hips to the bed so you couldn’t jerk around.

“I- I cant.” You gasped, overstimulation bringing tears to your eyes. You had already cum 3 times that night.

“Please baby, just one more. I love how your body losses control when you cum.” He whispered in your ear. His hand moved down a bit to rub small circles on your clit. “Now cum.”

The knots finally snapped, and you cried out as your whole body spasmed. You felt Roman finally cum, letting his head fall to the bed next to yours.

“See babygirl, I told you you could do it.”

100 notes • Posted 2021-07-17 05:00:04 GMT

#1

This photo has meme potential

106 notes • Posted 2021-11-14 07:17:44 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[buttdawg]

AEW’s Darby Allin Problem

All I’ve heard for weeks is the hype over CM Punk’s debut on the 8/20/21 edition of Rampage.   I was looking forward to it, although I kept my expectations low, because I didn’t know how long this relationship would last.   Also, unlike the entire population of Chicago, I learned to move on after he left WWE in 2014. 

But I respected the hell out of him for leaving WWE, and I liked his stuff from 2011 to 2014, so it was nice to see him come back on his own terms.   And Chicago is practically a second home to AEW, so it’s nice to see AEW create this special moment for the Chicago crowd.  It’s like watching a stranger propose on the sidewalk.   You don’t have to know the couple to get invested in it.  And Punk looked great, like he forgot to age these past seven years, so yeah, this was a feel good moment.  

Except that I knew he was gonna bring up Darby Allin, and as soon as he did it just sucked the fun out of the whole thing.  

Let’s get this out of the way.    During the #speakingout movement last year, a lot of prominent wrestlers got called out for abusive behavior.    One of these was Darby Allin, but he never faced any serious consequences.   I believe this stems from the fact that his accuser, Hawlee Cromwell, didn’t mention him by name.  I’ll put screenshots of her tweets below a cut, in case it’s too upsetting, but suffice to say she was in a relationship with another wrestler in 2016-17, and he emotionally abused her.  He threatened to leave her if she didn’t have sex with him, and this is rape.   

On June 18, 2020, Cromwell didn’t name any names, because she didn’t feel comfortable doing so.   At least some people must have figured out it was Darby Allin, but I think most people had no idea who she was or who she was dating at the time, so they saw Darby mentioned in these callout lists and decided it had to be a case of mistaken identity.   I know I was confused at the time, because whenever anyone talked about the allegations against Darby, they would point to an accusation which... made no mention of his name.  So it was impossible for most people to connect the dots. 

Perhaps because of this, Cromwell clarified her accusation on August 6, 2021:

No plausible deniability here, either you believe Hawlee Cromwell or you don’t, but she’s definitely talking about Darby Allin.  I’m not trying to tell fans how to respond to this.  I’m not trying to suck the fun out of the CM Punk return, but I do want to put the facts out there, because I spent a few months not knowing whether Darby had accusations against him or not.  Now we know for certain.  He does.  

Personally, I take Hawlee Cromwell at her word, and I don’t see this as any different than the accusations against Joey Ryan or Velveteen Dream.   It’s often been suggested that AEW won’t do anything about Darby because he’s so popular.    That may be true, although I suspect it also has to do with the number of accusers.   My understanding was that dozens of people spoke up about Joey Ryan, to the point where it became almost impossible to ignore.   I have a sinking feeling that AEW just doesn’t see this as a big enough issue to deal with.   They either don’t care, or they don’t believe the allegations, or they don’t consider the allegations worth acting upon.   Or maybe they’re hoping the heat died down last year and everyone forgot about it.   Well, I’m not forgetting.

Anyway this kind of belies the whole feel-good moment of CM Punk’s return.   Tony Khan can talk about how much he wants to earn the fans’ trust, and how much he wants to do the right thing, but every week he keeps putting Darby on TV, making him harder and harder to ignore. 

Even if I didn’t believe the allegations against Darby, I find it kind of stupid that Punk should come back after all these years, but the biggest thing on his mind is Darby Allin.  This was practically the same thing they did with Sting last year.   And we also have Taz maintaining a hate-boner for Darby long after the end of their feud, and we have Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston palling around with the guy on TV.   We seem to be building this long list of A-1 talent solely devoted to getting Darby Allin over.   I don’t think he’s worth it.   That’s my opinion without the abuse allegations.   If I take the accusations into account, then I have to add that he doesn’t deserve this kind of push either. 

I’d like to continue to support AEW, but dammit, they really aren’t making it easy for me.  I’d like to think I’m wrong about all of this, but that’s why I put Cromwell’s tweet up there, to keep me honest.  If Allin’s the kind of man she says he is, then sooner or later this is going to blow up in AEW’s face.   They could have cut him loose a year ago and been done with it, but now they’ve committed, and it feels like watching a trainwreck in slow motion.   I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am. 

Mostly, I’ve just kept this to myself, but watching Punk out there, talking about his own rough patches, it reminded me of why I respected him in the first place.   He didn’t buy all those ice cream bars to be cute, or to pander.  He used ice cream as a talking point in 2011, to illustrate how tone-deaf WWE management was.   Handing them out in 2021 to prove that things could change if you make a big enough stink.   I don’t know if Punk knows about Hawlee Cromwell’s accusations, or if he’s looking the other way for his own sake.    All I know is that you can’t just sit back and pretend everything’s okay.    This Darby Allin thing isn’t okay.   And I guess I have to say something.

The above images were taken from this tweet, dated June 18, 2020.