Mark Spearing

sunday league goalkeeper extraordinairre

[Peter @DivineTrading]

So the results are in and theres no World Cup highlights/catch up programmes with pundits, latest news and discussion I.e. A MOTD type show. Not scheduled or online. Yes, individual games online but it's just not the same. Huge own goal. Shame on @BBCSport and @ITVSport

[Mark Spearing @markspearing]

@ChampionshipYid @Stevenmann84 @JaiP72 @BBCSport The itv X one is just the 2 highlights videos back to back. With added adverts.

I agree they're missing a trick with no MOTD style programme. Alienates the older generations. I don't want to watch the whole match replay. Give me 5.mkns of build up. Lineups. 15-20 mins of game

[Mark Spearing @markspearing]

@BBCMOTD Is this why we don't have proper a highlights programme to catch up on the overnight games? 9 mins doesn't really do the games justice. Give us a bit of lineups/anthems/analysis with the videos. I don't want to watch the whole game but want a more than we're currently getting

[Mark Spearing @markspearing]

@WWEGP Unify all the world belts (men, women, tag). Their value is diluted. Leads to lazy booking cos you can just throw someone a world title shot but what does it really mean

[Mark Spearing @markspearing]

Hi here @NoelMooney13 . Any chance this gorgeous GK kit gets released for sale as part of the anniversary kits?

[Mark Spearing @markspearing]

@MeltzerSaidWhat @WONF4W £30 for a ticket and £10-£15 in tube is not "prohibitive" getting to London is another matter. It's a bank holiday here when they run All In. I've never been able to go because I always go away for the bank holiday. Others will be the same. Keep it at Wembley but change the date

[Mark Spearing @markspearing]

@andyhmurray $$$$$$$$$ short term at least. As long as they know they're on 90 fay rolling contracts. Make that coin, don't burn your bridges in AEW, they'd be welcomed back. Probably all a tease like it was a few years ago and they'll re-sign with Tony

[Mark Spearing @markspearing]

@RainesMatt @Come_4_Papa @MSidgwick @culturedleftpeg @andyhmurray Now THIS is the America I want to experience!!

[Mark Spearing @markspearing]

@WWEGP I feel like they're more likely to strap him up as a heel. 1st time face world champs can struggle with how the fed book you (see Jey Uso). Maybe a heel run will help with the turn back

[Mark Spearing @markspearing]

@tmsproducer @BBCPhilharmonic @TimPeachBBC Congratulations to all involved. Was a fantastic documentary

[Mark Spearing @markspearing]

@WrestleManiacUK If they build up a smaller guy to be the underdog against these beasts (Je'von maybe?), it could be incredible

[Mark Spearing @markspearing]

I want to check that @SimonMiller316 is ok today. The whole Gingerbread Man thread on #Smackdown feels like it was peak GWFL. The choir, the awful AI (different debate), the song, the whole roster in on it. It's either terrible or genius. Or both!

[Cardiff City FC @CardiffCityFC]

The highlights from Nathan's first season as a #Bluebird! 🧤

#CityAsOne | @CardiffCityTV

[Mark Spearing @markspearing]

@AlexMcCarthy88 If they're willing to pay for it Cardiff. Principality has a roof so no worries about the rain. We've got a new arena currently being built that would be more than big enough for TV. Clash was a success.

It won't happen but a man can dream

[Mark Spearing @markspearing]

@VFTNinian Hope all is well. Been a more than entertaining season with you chaps. No need to worry about missing a week or two. Life happens x

[Gorilla Position @WWEGP]

Addressing the mind numbing “it’s a business. New Day don’t draw” comments that have popped up on some posts.

Is maintaining locker room morale not important for business? Is having two of the most talented, trustworthy, well respected stars in the industry at your disposal not good for business?

When stars like Kofi and Woods - who had been with WWE for 18 and 16 years respectively - are asked to restructure their deals only a year after signing them, what message does that send to your employees? Basically that the contracts they sign are worth nowhere near the amount that is written on them. That, despite TKO raking in BILLIONS of dollars, they will still cut costs when they could actually pay talent much more, while still being immensely profitable.

If you want to make new stars, it is good for business to have excellent, seasoned veterans of Kofi and Woods’ calibre to help nurture those stars into main event talents.

Not every wrestler is supposed to be ‘a draw’. There is an EXTREMELY finite amount of genuine top tier ‘draws’ who move numbers. Even in golden eras of wrestling. That being said, if New Day had stayed with WWE, turned babyface tomorrow and released a ton of new merch, they would have been selling like hot cakes immediately.

New Day’s heel run was a bust because there was no creative follow up to the stunningly executed turn on Big E. Basically, the entire thing was booked as one spectacular moment. Not the fault of Kofi or Woods. That is the fault of creative.

TKO believed Kofi and Woods were both worth new, seven-figure deals just last year. So what changed from then until now?

The “it’s a business/New Day don’t draw” crowd. Riddle us this: Was it good for business to book WrestleMania in Las Vegas twice in a row? Or to raise ticket prices so high, demand for them declined rapidly, forcing huge emergency discounts and special offers left, right and centre? How about tanking a long awaited main event by inserting……Pat McAfee and Jelly Roll in there? Their own broadcasts now have fans chanting “F**K TKO”. Does that sound like good business?

If only guaranteed draws are safe from the chopping block, then only roughly 1% of WWE’s roster is safe from being released or asked to restructure. Steady hands, seasoned vets, beloved older stars, they are all essential in making a wrestling promotion work to its full capabilities. Not everyone is Roman Reigns or John Cena or Steve Austin.

Sometimes, you let lifers be lifers. You let them keep spirits high backstage and on the road. You trust them with new talent or in emergencies when bigger stars go down with injuries. You keep them around because in a chaotic industry, they are rare, reliable commodities that will never let you down and can work up and down the card. That is worth so much more than any seven figure contract you could ever give them.

Thank God for the New Day.

[Mark Spearing @markspearing]

@WWEGP I'm definitely in the minority but the super serious delivery from Trick and Aldis made this angle for me. I really enjoyed a bit of variety. Not everything can be super serious. This could be too daft but give me goofy Wrestling

[Mark Spearing @markspearing]

@WrestleManiacUK I'm assuming it's a pseudo political thing. Roman says nothing happens without his say so. So he's the defacto "President"

[Alyssa @butwhyalyssa]

Using AI to run and analyse millions of data points is simply a matter of productivity, and happens far more than most people here obviously think.

It's not a story at this point. It has been purposely - or perhaps, more alarmingly, accidentally - misinterpreted.

[Mark Spearing @markspearing]

@WrestleOps @POSTwrestling Read the full context. They're using AI to scrape data about what's resonating in certain markets etc. Not writing stories. That's just an efficiency gain that 99% of businesses are doing