AEW 2023: Scissor Me Daddy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EpjbzGIgfg

New set tomorrow shows they are bored of lugging around Cody’s elevator.

Is Sasha/Mercedes Saraya’s partner?

If they continue these storylines, Revolution looks like an amazing show on paper. MJF v D-Bry, Hangman v Mox look on. Dunno if Christian will be fit in time to fight Jungle Boy but that would be a banger. Elite v House of Black is rumoured and would be insane. Hayter keeps having classics, so whoever she fights will be excellent.

Other questions:

Does RoH ever get TV?
Will Miro and Serena Deeb ever be seen again?
Will Mox ever get to go on holiday?
Is Punk gone forever?
Will they ever put more than one women’s match on Dynamite?
Will they ever do something serious with the best wrestler in the world, Eddie Kingston?
Is there going to be Forbidden Door 2?

I’m sure there are others I’m forgetting.

You know, with all the hype around Mercedes showing up in Japan, I totally didn't even consider her being Saraya's partner, but that would rule, honestly.

I would be happy if they did a better streaming service for their wrestling shows across the board, though I know some of their deals with other streaming services makes that a little difficult. It is a pain having to pay to watch AEW on multiple different platforms, though.

I'm really curious how the partnership with NJPW is going to unfold. Forbidden Door was super cool and had lots of great moments, but didn't really feel like it had any long-lasting consequences/results/stories (aside from the really unfortunate Adam Cole injury). I'm hoping that the extended olive branch of sending Omega to Japan will allow for more collaboration that both sides can benefit from, and also allow more talent exchange. Wheeler ruled in BOSJ last year, so I'm hoping that maybe we get some AEW representatives for the G1 this year. Can you imagine a block including Samoa Joe, Jeff Cobb, and Wardlow?

My big question is how long are they going to let MJF's reign of terror continue? I've really liked this run so far, and I think it's been perfect as far as the kind of character MJF is. I hope it lasts a year, especially because I imagine it'll take a while to build up one of the younger guys to be ready to be at that level.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pitJiD_flzY

god-level sting/darby promo from friday's rampage

tonight was like “what if i booked aew”. every match rocked

I don’t like the new set. It looks like they haven’t screwed it together in time. And no tunnels, booooooo. It’s not a big deal though.

Holy fuck MJF v DBry Iron Man match at the next PPV?

I hope MJF is up for it. His longest matches have been great, like the Punk one, so it should be incredible. PPVs already feel too long though lol.

I’m absolutely loving heel Swerve and his douchey bodyguards. Him v Keith Lee will be a banger

Such a good Dynamite so far

Anyone else think there's more to Saraya's declaration of Toni Storm being her tag partner? Seemed weirdly anti-climactic.

Shida looked pretty pissed in the promo, it looks like a good set up to something. Definitely suggests Mercedes/Sasha aint coming though.

Joe-Darby was boss.

I absolutely adore Taz, Ex and Tony during picture-in-picture.

Bit weird to set up Saraya as a bigot (doesn’t address Shida by name before announcing her decision, only “you”) and try to shape Shida’s inevitable (and entirely morally justified) snap into something unreasonable à la The Mega Powers Explode! but if it means Shida gets featured more on TV then I’m here for it, for now.

Honestly wonder if this is a set-up to have Shida and Mercedes team up against Storm/Saraya and Britt/Hayter.

Another great Dynamite. Rampage looks like it could be a good one too with Orange Juice

sorry to be a snowflake about this but there was way too much misogyny/racism/making fun of ppl’s speech impediments in the promo department for me this week. try harder

fantastic show otherwise. takeshita is the guy

It is with a heavy heart that we mourn the tragic passing of Jamin Pugh, known to wrestling fans around the world as Jay Briscoe. Our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and his fans. pic.twitter.com/g95ID0ZnDW

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 18, 2023

This one hurts.

up until the last 30 seconds or so, the brian cage/willie mack match was absolute greatness.

the jay briscoe stuff is just absolutely devastating

Yeah the news sucks. Shamefully I’ve never really watched much of the Briscoes. Those recent matches with FTR have been incredible. I did actually remember watching the match against Steen where he won the ROH championship and loving it.

I know the Briscoes have made some pretty vulgar comments in the past but recent talk has suggested that they had regretted them and people can learn and grow from their mistakes.

Maybe when I get a bit of free time I should do a ROH deep dive, my knowledge is scattered and obviously there is years of classic wrestling to discover.

really emotional main event tonight

Cried through most of it. Cried at the neckbreaker. Cried at the Jay Driller.

So happy the Briscoes finally made it to AEW, but I hate the circumstance and I hate that there was so much resistance to it before. Truly one of the best tag teams in modern wrestling.

eddie kingston/qt marshall on the jay briscoe tribute and celebration had me smiling. great audience participation match.

Fucking hell that was a gnarly show. I’ve been rewatching WWF PPVs recently (I started at SummerSlam 96 and I’m at Breakdown in 98) and I think that just made me appreciate it even more. What a roster who could all have excellent matches AEW has.

But the Texas Deathmatch and the Iron Man were two of the craziest matches I’ve ever seen. I think I need to rewatch them instead of going back to Deadly Games. I think even people who don’t like garbage weapon type matches will still love watching the TDM. Somehow, despite the Barb wire and bricks, it was a back rake that took it over the top. I’m sure Renee was wincing in the back though. And the Iron Man, oh my god. I wasn’t paying much attention to the first 15 minutes as I was doing some work, but after that they beat the living piss out of each other. All 3, including a rare great referee performance, should be applauded. Again though, despite tombstones through tables etc. it was rolling around doing near falls that made it that much better, a proper five star classic.

it was a really excellent show all around but yeah i think its quality is demonstrated by how it contained two outrageously brutal matches that had very distinct personalities and atmospheres

I could've happily watched a second hour of that main, it absolutely flew by

I worked all last weekend and all of this week, so I haven't gotten a chance to watch this yet, but I heard that it was a great show. I'm planning on making the trek to Double or Nothing this year, so I'm glad that Revolution was a solid show.

I've been fascinated by the controversy surrounding MJF allegedly throwing tequila in a kid's face, and his use of his breakup as a heel. Dude is so good.

Dynamite was supposed to be great, I need to find some time to watch it. But Rampage looks like it’s got 2 certified bangers lined up: Hobbs v Fenix and Brody King v Daniel Garcia, two matches I didn’t know how much I wanted until I saw them advertised

even if you just isolated wednesday's dynamite to the crowd losing their shit whenever omega and jericho were in the ring together, it'd be a great show

hate to say it but i like jeff jarrett now, maybe the most creative guy on the roster in terms of incorporating ref disputes and interference into his matches

"hate to say it but i like jeff jarrett now, maybe the most creative guy on the roster in terms of incorporating ref disputes and interference into his matches"

you can take the boy out of Memphis etc.

i haven't watched any A-E-Dub in quite a long time now, i really did fall out of love with it pretty hard, but I got sucked right into the hype around the Kenny Omega vs El Hijo Del Vikingo match and seriously, wtf. why aren't WWE and AEW getting into each other's way hurling tremendous bundles of cash at this guy?! he is incredible!

have seen ppl comparing it to the experience of seeing Rey Mysterio in 1996 and yeah i think it probably is a bit like that, except Rey Mysterio in 96 was being compared to like Hogan and Piper and Nash and them - this guy just tipped up on an AEW show in 2023 and for 20 or so minutes showed up absolutely everyone. this is how to flip around the ring with style and panache!

first wrestler i have seen in some time where i've thought "yeah you could charge me money to watch this guy and i'd gladly pay it" and that is the whole deal really ins't it (still not gonna watch the AAA shows which appear on VK.com though because come on, life is short)

I got home too late to catch this, but Vikingo rules. Just when I think I can't be more impressed by him, he proves me wrong. He's still so young, too! He's had some great matches in GCW if you don't want to commit to the AAA shows. If nothing else, it's worth going out of your way to look up his match against Fenix at Triplemania last year.

This Hawaiian is gonna be watching tonight.

Watch the #AEW Road to St. Louis for a breakdown of this week's action, right here!
▶️ https://t.co/QQPzx4ML2R pic.twitter.com/cXVuTsPqbr

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) March 28, 2023

ADD! ADD! ADD! ADD!

Fucking Wembley Stadium! I’ve gotta figure out how to get some cash together to get my ass to All In

yeah i'm gonna be at that show come hell or high water. can't wait to see what they pull out to try and fill as many seats as possible

Alright I'll go, but if anyone obscures my view with a sign about a JRPG, a podcast host or Zack Snyder at any point I'm getting arrested

Amen Sgt

i'm so happy for y'all

i was at the show last night and what a dynamite

I’m lukewarm on AEW at the moment. Not feeling the ‘pillars’ angle at all, I don’t buy Jungle Boy and Darby as World Champion material yet. They’re crying out for a midcard title to fight over; meanwhile Ricky Starks is RIGHT THERE. They’ve really hamstrung Hobbs with the QTV thing, he needs to be his own man. God, there’s so much potential in the company and they’ve got a month and a bit till Double or Nothing but where’s the big money? At least Jericho and Cole has some spark. Everyone holding their breath for CM Punk?

Also, I HATE the new ropes. Whose idea was that? They look cheesy and far too busy.

haven't seen this week's dynamite yet but starks already exhausted his title shot (it is what it is) and prob won't come back around to it for another six months. would love to see him take it off mjf regardless. however... i feel like he's about to have a feud with jay white and juice and there's nothing to complain about there

it has been shocking to watch the pillars promos and realize that jungleboy has the strongest promo of any of them, thanks christian

my hope for the pillars is that it becomes a fatal four-way because none of them feels exactly ready for it yet, i.e. they realize they need each other to take down mjf. this plan will inevitably fail when they remember that one of them needs to be champion. sorry i've been watching too much succession

i feel like he’s about to have a feud with jay white and juice and there’s nothing to complain about there

Yeah I’m not worried about Starks, he’s clearly a long-term project for the company. It’s just that I buy him as championship, face-of-the-company material in a way that I simply don’t see with Jungle Boy and Darby (yet). And I’m not personally sold on Jungle Boy as a good promo, either; his delivery needs work, and he can’t keep leaning on yelling “shit” to pop the crowd.

I’m All In… the nosebleeds :)

Dropped an unreasonable amount of money on what I think are decent tickets (I actually have no idea, never done a stadium show before)

Gonna be waiting for this card to drop with my tongue hanging out

I was trying to get seats at the front of the stands and ended up in a tiny little pocket of floor seats near the entrance ramp that were in the same price band. That map was fuckin unreadable wtf

Yeah the map was horrible.

Aw, I hope you guys have fun! I'm doing Double or Nothing and Forbidden Door 2 this year, but one of my friends was trying to get his ticket to All In. I'm sure it's going to be a killer show!

there was hate earlier in this thread but the four pillars storyline is fucking amazing rn

I wouldn’t characterise not being enthused about it as ‘hate’. I do think the Sammy/MJF bits are funny, though.

Oh and I’m delighted they’ve returned to the black ring ropes! It’s the little things.

lol sorry, i mean i was even a little uncertain whether they'd pull it off! did not see the insane chemistry between mjf and sammy coming

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbaanUjfgv4

dj mix of the year

i hope cm punk slips on a banana peel and lands in a big mud puddle

opening 10 minutes of BCC/Elite was the equivalent of oneida's "sheets of easter"

"What business do you think we're in, Schiavone?!?!" Callis had me cracking up.

i was at the show live last night. total banger

jericho/cole was a little rough, like… idk it should’ve been great and at points it was but it also felt like a v tame unsanctioned match that never quite took off and the impact of the finish felt muted as a result

but i can’t say enough positive things about how they handled jade losing the belt and the final two matches

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXl-HzbuAWs

we love kris statlander

chorus of boos for don callis and takeshita last night was incredible

I’ve not watched much AEW recently, thought I’d catch up on DoN and Dynamite. DoN has been ok, the 4 pillars match was fun, nothing else was that memorable. Wtf is the black face singer? How does that get approved in 2023? If it was just a black mask that might have been ok but it’s got the mistral big red lips too.

it's a black mask

Yeah and when Gucci did a black balaclava with big red lips, it was just a balaclava. Idk it’s not that big of a deal but it still looks stupid and is a bad decision.

you were saying it's not a mask and i'm just telling you it's a mask! not sure why it was necessary either

Oh yeah sorry I worded it badly

i also can't read lol

Brad, you were at DoN? Me too! It was a great show.

Getting hyped for Forbidden Door, which I am also going to, and I've told no one but work to request those days off. Hoping they outdo themselves from last year.

Forbidden Door looks insane. D-Bry v Okada! Ospreay v Omega 2! Possibly Punk’s first match in a year. Sanada v MJF?

Honestly it could be the best wrestling PPV ever.

Get fucking Dr Nash as Adam Cole’s manager, stat. MJF’s on the juice!

This is a great Dynamite.

i just adore orange cassidy's title run. a huge weekly "fuck you" to the idiots who dismiss him

Collision day! With new signing Elton motherfucking John!

that Takeshita/Callis centaur painting is a goddamn masterpiece.

1. collision was excellent
2. tonight’s dynamite is nonstop insanity

“You’ve gotta wear a cond… iment”

Man I love Taz

“Tall dark and sexy” Konosuke Takeshita

Ok this could be the best dynamite ever

Takeshita as a methodical, ornery heel absolutely rules

I really liked Collision, it felt a bit like an NXT PPV with five good, differently worked matches with a lot of in-ring storytelling. It just had a fun house show six man as the main instead of an overwrought title match. I was way higher on the TNT hoss fight than most other people it seemed, concerns about Wardlow being turned into Hoss Sasha Banks by the booking aside

Texting this on my phone from YYZ, but Holy shit what a show!

i was euphoric almost all night

Watching it now, after also watching Collision. Punk-Kojima was great and the 4 way was really fun. The Ace looks like he needs a year to rest but the match was ok. The Collision one with Swerve was a mess.

I fucking loved Miro’s promo where he denounced God and his wife. The 8 man tag was great too, Punk close to getting Christian/Callis heat. When he actually turns heel it’s gonna be LOUD.

I hope they have plans for Jungle Man. He’s been my favourite wrestler of the 4 pillars but the worst promo.

Holy fuck the camera catching the crowd coming to their feet in a wave for Eddie-Mox was an all time shot. This 10 team is great. The Takeshita forearm to Ishii was insane.

Eddie needs the title at some point. Sooner rather than later. He needs to stop being treated with that Jake Roberts “he doesn’t need the belt to be over” mentality.

The Crippler Crossface? Ospreay is an evil bastard

Unsurprisingly this is great. Maybe not as good as the first one but I’m splitting hairs. Hopefully the rubber match is at All In.

Oh talking of which, my one wrestling friend can’t go with me anymore, so if any of y’all know someone who wants a ticket, I’ve got one free

Legitimately screamed when Kenny kicked out of the OWA at 1.

That Tiger Driver 91 looks like watching a murder.

rewatching forbidden door, first time i've done this for a ppv in a while but i just needed to remember what happened in more detail than an in-the-moment hella stoned impression of constant awesomeness washing over me

I still have to rewatch, but apparently I'm visible behind Callis at one point! This was a hell of a show. Probably one of the fastest moving PPVs I've watched in a long time.

a hoy hoy: where is your seat? I have a friend that may still want to buy, or if I really go hardcore, I may want to buy your ticket.

I can’t seem to log in to ticketmaster right now. I’m pretty high up in the cheap seats. The spare ticket is free, you/friend doesn’t need to pay for it if you want it.

I’ll try logging in again tomorrow when I can be bothered with that shitty fucking company

Dynamite was great. Kenny v Yuta is a must watch, with a hot ending.

and mjf x cole is soooooo good

Also Punk v Joe 4 at the weekend. I watched the trilogy after the pipe bomb, so over a decade ago and personally thought they were a bit of an overlong mess, albeit still entertaining. So this having a 20 min time limit is right up my alley.

Collision and Rampage also amazing shows. Both had absolutely incredible tag matches. I love that AEW is must watch tv again.

I think AEW has something I’ve not really seen before, which is the possibility of 15-20 guys that could potentially be champion. If they did a Rumble, i genuinely would have no idea who would win. Cole, Punk, Joe, Jay White, Kenny, Hangman, Bryan, Mox, Jerichlol, Starks, Darby, Eddie all could go against MJF and be considered worthy foes, while there is another list that could be built up very easily to join them (Wardlow, Miro, Hobbs, Christian, Jungle Boy, Malaichi, Andrade and Keith Lee all spring to mind).

The depth of male talent is insane, before even mentioning the tag teams, the youngsters, ROH and NJPW.

I just fucking love AEW.

If they could remember where Serena Deeb is, it would be the perfect company.

I think AEW has something I’ve not really seen before, which is the possibility of 15-20 guys that could potentially be champion. If they did a Rumble, i genuinely would have no idea who would win. Cole, Punk, Joe, Jay White, Kenny, Hangman, Bryan, Mox, Jerichlol, Starks, Darby, Eddie all could go against MJF and be considered worthy foes, while there is another list that could be built up very easily to join them (Wardlow, Miro, Hobbs, Christian, Jungle Boy, Malaichi, Andrade and Keith Lee all spring to mind).

Cosigned.

collision is ok. tag match was great. the promo package featuring punk / ring adjacent promo by punk / video package featuring punk trifecta to open the show was a bit too much for me, and i’m dreading him winning the owen.

Haha yeah, that was a lot. I do really like the SNME-style hype promo cold open thing they’ve been doing. But the Punk live crowd promo right after was a bit weird, would have worked better maybe if Joe came out to shut him up but it just sort of petered out and he stood there for a beat too long till the music played.

I’m hoping Punk puts over the other guy (not saying who in case spoilers) for the Owen. He could do with the win more than Punk does.

I agree with everything said. The Punk promo was too much. The opening promos are great (when they did the 8 man tag it felt like an old survivor series). The other guy definitely should win, in fact I’d be surprised if Punk does. I’m kinda assuming Joe screws him or something.

So that Power & Glory spot, ey?

damn it feels good to see that the elite will still be elite

https://www.si.com/fannation/wrestling/news/the-elite-renew-contracts-with-aew

That’s great news.

Collision continues to be the best thing on tv too. Absolutely loving AEW leading into my first ever wrestling show.

Daniel Garcia's dance is absolute money.

I never really had an opinion on it until how aggressively he did it at Jericho, now I love it.

It reminds me of Mac in Always Sunny during the dance contest.

his dancing was also a highlight of his match with shibata at death before dishonor (a ppv really worth watching all around)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLeVD0CRg2U

i jump in and out of the hey! ew series but this is gold

This latest Punk melodrama is really getting people riled up, on both sides of the fence.

Personally I have been absolutely loving Collision and I think it’s probably a fair bet at this stage that Punk has a huge hand in the booking and the general vibe of that show, so I’m prepared to cut him an awful lot of slack.

Clearly the atmosphere in the company has changed from “we’re all best friends and we’re so happy to be in this together” to something much more tribal and hostile but I’m finding it quite compelling.

He is obviously heading for the mother of all flameouts and it’s quite gripping to see how long the train can possibly stay on the tracks before he just completely melts down

Punk/FTR vs the Elite would be absolutely white hot if they could possibly get everyone on the same page long enough

*Should note that I don’t buy the idea that the rest of the roster is splitting along tribal and hostile lines, that seems to be p much entirely Punk’s doing, but the fact of him being such a figurehead on Collision and that he does have his own crew of guys (who are undoubtedly all fine with the Elite and associates, as I say) is definitely creating an atmosphere

all the punk stuff is fucking boring and he’s lost a step both in promo and in the ring

love ftr of course

but to me it’s just kind of a shitty clusterfuck started by the biggest baby on earth and i can’t reward this behavior with attention. collision is so goddamn good when punk is not onscreen (although let me be real, there are not enough wrestlers on it)

I'm sure i'll be proved wrong but imo this is the build up to All Out. The show only has one midcard match with a much bigger show in front of it. It'll need a big hook. It'll be a year since Brawl Out. Everyone's most probably sick of being asked why tf they arent doing elite v. cmftr and ready to just go for it. Kayfabe baby!

anyway seemingly he’s injured again! how can you even build a storyline when this shit keeps happening to the biggest drama queen in the company

xp Yeah that’s fair.

I am definitely somewhat blinded by how much I’ve been enjoying Collision and there is of course no way of knowing how much of what I enjoy about it is down to Punk behind the scenes beyond speculation, but it has been a breath of fresh air after I drifted away from Dynamite

All 3 shows have been really good recently.

Just need Jericho to retire and i'll be happy, it's like x-pac heat with me at this point.

if this is building toward all out, which is just a few weeks away, they should maybe attempt to tell this story, idk, in the ring, on a show, instead of in dirt sheets and through dark punk promos that suck ass

hangman was right

There’s no argument from me on him being the messiest, thinnest skinned little baby btw! It’s astonishing how insecure he seems to be, and it is absurd how much sway he apparently has over tony khan.

But there’s a definite risk vs reward aspect to having him around and I think atm all things considered the scales come down on the reward side

I suspect that if Collision wasn’t “his” show it would very quickly feel homogeneous with the other shows. But again, not basing that on much more than instinct

on a positive note, i think jay white and juice robinson are absolutely killing it on collision... bringing the gunns in? inspired

yes, absolutely. the match they had with FTR was stellar. Jay White is incredibly entertaining but they've all four been great.

i'm not so sure about the need for bringing in too many more wrestlers to the Collision set up, part of what I've been enjoying is how incredibly focused it is compared to Dynamite. I have griped in this thread before about how draining i ended up finding the lack of focus on Dynamite, it had started to feel like every time i started really rooting for a wrestler they would swiftly get relegated to catering in favour of whoever was the latest flavour of the month.

definitely they will need to cycle guys in and out of the rotation on Collision but it's been cool to tune in each week knowing for sure that i'm going to get to see wrestlers that i enjoy

idk, i’m not sure i agree. i mean you got this way more laconic two hour show and i’m still not guaranteed to see miro every week

i definitely get to see punk every week, in the main event, sucking shit

in all fairness i think ricky’s finally getting the space he deserves tho

lol well we definitely agree on Miro. i mean that is just bizarre. how on earth do you come out of the Redeemer run when by popular acclaim he was one of, if not the best thing happening in the company and decide that you don't have anything for him to do?! i know there have been rumblings (unsubstantiated - lol dirtsheets) that he has not been particularly easy to work with but i find it hard to blame him if they've been taking him nonsense - they should be building around this guy!

similar vibe with Eddie Kingston, who has maybe got more of that utterly priceless "we live or die with this guy" babyface heat with the audience than anyone i can remember since like, WWE Daniel Bryan, and they refuse to use him as more than a bit-part player

Ricky Starks a great example of why I think the intense focus of the Collision approach works

eddie kingston is currently in japan having the best wrestling storyline of all time, i think he's coming back to a hot crowd and a big push

or at least i really hope so

oh yeah him getting do the G1, meeting Kawada, getting his photo at Ribera's etc. has been a total joy, don't get me wrong, but i think he's one of a few really key assets they have, you can't manufacture that connection he has with the crowds, and i don't think they necessarily see him at the level i wish he was at. fingers crossed i'm wrong and he gets that push though

You’ll get to argument from me that Ricky Starks deserves all the time to shine. I’ve been on the Starks train since NWA Powerrr (Remember when that was appointment viewing? LOL!) and I’ve said it here before, he’s more main-event ready than all but one of the young ‘pillars’.

I could make a very long list of all the stuff in AEW that gets my goat (and that most others would butt in to say “Well actually…”) but I still watch it every week and on balance the pros outweigh the cons and hey, it’s more rewarding than WWE. Also I’ll pay the €20 or whatever to watch All In live, of course I will.

*no argument, ffs

Oh yeah and bring on the Eddie Kingston push!

if this is building toward all out, which is just a few weeks away, they should maybe attempt to tell this story, idk, in the ring, on a show, instead of in dirt sheets and through dark punk promos that suck ass

hangman was right

― ivy., Tuesday, 15 August 2023 15:32 (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I never said it was a good idea, just a theory. And they’ve used dirt sheet reddit drama a bunch of times before. Personally I’d prefer a proper story but hopefully one is building from here.

I like that Collision is different. BCG are my favourite thing in the world right now. The cardboard cutout just put them over the top. Wish there was more Miro and less QT Marshall though. Also hope Kevin Kelly doesn’t come back.

I don’t think they’ve done the “randomly drop a hot wrestler” in a while except out of injury? I guess the Acclaimed have cooled down a bit in the past 6 months but I can’t think of anyone else who has been Wardlowed. I think if there wasn’t major injuries to Hayter, Keith Lee (when he should have fought Swerve), DBry, Pac et al they’d be on even more of a roll right now. They’ve definitely handled this round of injuries better than they did last summer.

I feel like current day Christian may be one of my favourite things in wrestling history, like up there with Steiner promos, Sid in 96 and Owen the Slammy winner. Definitely the best thing he’s done since he was in TNA. He’s just such a bastard.

i never got to experience christian in any other company but since his heel turn he has been my favorite promo of all time basically

i love aew dynamite

i love how moxley/kingston is turning into the first run omgega/page slowburn.

big oof, cash

they're gonna have to find two wrestlers for collision that punk doesn't hate

Man I’m PISSED. That was my #1 match for next week. I don’t really care that much about the rest of the card, even though I know it’ll still be a good show.

I guess they could add the Bucks to the Golden Elite v BCG (+ the Gunns?). But then there is already a 12 man match with mystery opponents. But they just beat the Gunns on Dynamite, so it’s not particularly exciting to go that route.

Dax can maybe be Punk’s manager? Idk

I’ve just started Dynamite and heard the man in the mask say All In will be the biggest event in wrestling history… can you imagine how much moustache Vince is stewing? Just this thought alone is gonna make me love Sunday.

On my way to Wembley!

I missed the opportunity to catch Collision this morning and don’t wanna click on any wrestling media/social media for potential spoilers.* Did I miss anything?

*Really I just want to see the set in person. Although I’ve not yet seen any beforehand pics, like you usually get 5 or 6 days before Mania. I hope they’ve put the effort in.

Hook vs Jack Perry got added to the card. Which I mean, you have another PPV real soon and this card is already stuffed, settle down Tony

The set appears to have plenty of screens, which is good for this 5'7 guy who accidentally bought a pitch seat at the back

hope y'all have so much fun

I’ve only seen images of the ring set-up. Hopefully the awning won’t block the view of the ring from the higher stands.

Starting to get excited now, two hours till the pre-show!

i'm only now finishing dynamite (was on vacation all last week) but i'm sooo excited to see ar fox perform in front of a crowd this big

wasn’t he written off the show?

oh yeah i suppose so, i interpreted the events on dynamite incorrectly lol. oh well

Yeah I heard AR Fox and Fenix couldn’t get visas and had to be written off the show. Don’t know how true this is though.

AR Fox it makes sense as he wasn’t signed that long ago and the visa process is a nightmare at the best of times. As for Fenix, who knows what couldn’t be done for him that was for his brother, if that is indeed the case.

that pre show was so dope

That was a good time. Didn't really drag despite being long.

Bucks-FTR was the highlight for me, heeeeell of a finishing run. Wonder what was going through Cash's mind when he had 80,000 people doing firearms jokes at him? Maffew will have allowed himself a chuckle

The main was fun and I can respect not doing a downer/shocking ending but that's a lot of meta comedy for the main event of the biggest wrestling event in history isn't it? Why did they like actually call the double clothesline spot, that turned out to be a bizarre false finish, all funny like?

Well that was fun. Wembley is proving hard to get out of, I don’t think I’m going to get back to Brighton until about 1.30am.

Will have a lot more thoughts in the morning. Merch game was terrible though, all T-shirts about the event and yet I couldn’t even see an Orange Cassidy shirt.

that show was sooooo fun

i think the main balanced funny meta stuff with actually compelling wrestling with an emotional throughline. exactly what i watch the product for

i loved every minute of that. i dragged along a friend who knows nothing at all about wrestling and he also absolutely loved it.

he also completely got the angle of MJF being this asshole with no friends who has accidentally made this one friend, and he was biting on every tease that one of them was about to screw over the other - i think that really worked

what a great time :) can't wait to watch back the tv broadcast

Godspeed AHH

we briskly dashed to the tube from our pitch seats as soon as the main ended and got back home to SE at 11.10, definitely a personal best for Wembley

Thoughts on Ospreay-Jericho? Seemed to fly by and stick to what they could do well for the most part. Jericho's huracanranas were impressive, especially the Stormbreaker counter! The dynamics of who you were meant to cheer were weird with the impromptu Fozzy concert (extreme heel move lol), Sammy running interference with the bat, Callis being out with the hometown hero

Watching the media scrum on the train… WRESTLEDREAM THE PPV

Fucking hell Tony doesn’t know how to answer a question. I feel like I picked a good time to dip in, hear about the new PPV and then to decide fuck this.

Obviously I should have kept watching to hear Jay Hunter get a question.

Callis had that good heat in my section, the second the big screen flashed to him the boos were deafening. only Punk got near it

god tier pay-per-view. when the low points are the golden lovers/page v. bullet club gold, you know you've stacked the deck well.

aaaaaaand just now learning there was another incident involving punk. huh. hats off they held the fort down for all the matches that went on after that blowup.

You probably couldn’t tell if you were there, but the way it was depicted on TV, I thought that Penta injury spot was in really poor taste. Especially in light of the company’s recent directions to talent about clearing spots, etc.

Other than that I enjoyed the show. But it sours me on it, I have to be honest.

You ever make it past sleepy, back around to buzzing again? I couldn’t go straight to sleep, watched the pre-show and Punk v Joe and finally hit my own personal GTS about 4am. Thank God today is a bank holiday, cheers for thinking that through Tony.

What a fucking show! (I just happened to be in great spirits because I’d arranged a second date with the loveliest person I’ve met in forever on the way up. She’s not a big texter so I had that terrifying feeling in the pit of my gut that it wasn’t going to happen, but she finally checked her phone and we are going indoor rock climbing on Friday)

Watching the TV back, I now really understand the stadium criticisms that have been thrown at Mania all these years. The crowd were LOUD inside, much less so on TV. And for all the shit said about wrestling fans being smelly smarks or whatever, everyone I met and was sat around was pleasant, enthusiastic and enjoyable to be around. I’ve had way worse experiences at football games and gigs.

I don’t watch WWE and know much about him but LA Knight is over. I heard as many YEAHS as I did to e Ric Flair WOO, from the tube in to the tube out. It was constant. Give him the title moustache Vince!

5 star: The Kangeroo kick, the fellas next to me trying to get a “shave those sideburns” chant going at AO, Bucks v FTR, Toni’s crazy queen entrance, seeing the Max Caster rap live and Scissor Me Daddy chants, Metallica, my section of the crowds support for daddy Sting with lots of pensioner jokes (while he’d just been knocked out, someone shouted “give him a worthers original!” which had everyone dying), Jericho v Ospreay and the carniest title match I’ve ever seen. MJF is OVER. The chants and pops were constant. Seeing Nigel, popping every Taz came on screen and me and the guy behind me doing simultaneous I AM THE TABLE shouts.

Still v good but not 5 star: I really enjoyed Stadium Stampede, more than when I’ve seen them on TV. My seat was behind the entrance ramp, so thank god it wasn’t massive like a Mania set. Punk v Joe was loads of fun, nice to see the Funk spot, the Joe walking away spot and the Pepsi Plunge. It’s a shame AEW didn’t start 10 years prior so Joe could have had a monster run. Hook’s suplexes. Sting & Darby v Swerve & Christian - fucking madmen, all of them. Double J, and hearing Madonna sang on the way out by everyone because Tony weren’t paying for a pre-show spot. The boos for Callis and seeing Golden Hung Lovers spots.

Also how well booked the show was. There was definitely a lot of borderline fans who I think got hooked in and had a great time. Almost all of right people went over, who were coincidentally often old stars like Sting, Punk, Paige and Billy Gunn. Queen & Metallica. Ospreay being presented as a superstar against the most known wrestler they have. Also the most storyline main event possible, but not in a WWE way. This was a whole show about friendship, which WWE has never understood. From Eddie and Mox being like brothers who love and hate each other to the big spots for mentors (Daddy Ass and Sting), the Best Friends winning and of course the ending. It all seemed like interesting and relatable storytelling that had everyone engaged.

Less good: Wembley is bloody soulless, huh? It’s basically a giant concrete car park. You think they could put up a poster of Bobby Moore or something. Having matches where you could have easily got appearances for your two biggest British acts (Pac as a friend in the SS, Jamie coming down with Britt) and not doing it. The finish of the women’s match looked screwy, like Britt tapped out Shida at the same time Saraya pinned Toni? Everyone in my section had a very delayed reaction as no one could seemingly remember Saraya’s music, especially as she came out to Queen. It was still real to the guy sat next to me dammit when she won, he was pissed and had lots of feelings about the women’s division. People in the same match having the same tights as their opposition - there was a lot of black trousers and Max wore white v the House of White. From my Row Z it made some stuff hard to see. Whoever booked that clothesline draw stuff in the main.

All the same, it was a great time. I need some breakfast.

Also I forgot how much I loved the Moxley’s new haircut spot.

Rewatching the Golden Elite v BCG and I’m gonna need a Rock Hard Hangman 30 minute classic Tony.

Oh another of my many thoughts on Juice Robinson, who is quickly becoming my favourite wrestler. His gold trunks make him look naked from far away. It was certainly a Rock Hard choice.

Collision really gave Juice and Jay the little featured space they needed to get properly established

Juice's act is almost too cartoonish, but he's so committed you can actually buy him as being genuinely deranged

Jay's promos and needly dickhead guest commentary have become more natural lately as well, it's almost like he had that Omega thing where he needed to deprogram himself from doing English promos for a primarily Japanese-speaking audience (except he actually did it and Kenny didn't hehe)

Yeah I don’t think anyone has played it up to 11 like Juice. He actually seemed unhinged, I love it. Jay is also killing it, although I was sad Cardblade didn’t make the trip.

Another thing I didn’t care for: the Acclaimed’s spot on Julia. I guess it would be Billy Gunn without some sort of weird misogyny spot. I bet Road Dogg and Vince Russo popped hard, wherever they are.

oh i was into it but i crave more intergender stuff

went back to rewatch because i thought it was just me, but the finish to the golden elite/bullet club came off wrong - almost as if the bullet club wasn't supposed to win? it just seemed like everyone was confused after that finish.

also, if it wasn't already apparent - MJF is a goddamn made man.

i've only been watching wrestling for four years but "i'm your scumbag (because i finally have a best friend)" is the most powerful and effective face-turn i've ever experienced

It’s been percolating ever since he cut that promo during the Punk feud about his experiences growing up. People just love him. He was by far the most over performer in my section

I think he may have been in mine too, with Ospreay and Omega up there too

Watching BTE for the first time in forever and Ziggler’s brother needs to be dropped already. He is so bad.

Well, Tony fired Punk

Fucking hell!

Wow

Firing his #1 draw on the weekend of Chicago shows. Hopefully this stops the inane “Tony doesn’t know how to be a boss” chatter.

I love Punk but he just can’t help himself, can he? He must be such a fucking prick to be around.

I presume the CM PUNK troll chants will be back in full force, possibly on WWE too.

It's sad, he was basically the best wrestler in the company imo but he was incapable of not acting like a massive fanny for seemingly any reasonable amount of time at all. Not sure anybody would have had "Luke Perry's brat son" on the bingo card back in August 2021

This feels a like a good chance of AEW killing the already limping and wheezing Chicago territory as well, it never at any point seemed like a good idea to try to run run All Out a week out after Wembley, but then having to do it with a Dynamite-level card and a Phil-shaped hole, yeesh, tough gig

Gonna drink whiskey and play a sad minor-key rendition of Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting on a piano to mourn the passing of Collision, you were too pure for this world

(I.e didn't have that many flips and did the pre-credits 10 second promos that start with angrily shouting the name of who youre feuding with)

It would be hilarious if Kenny or Hangmam took over Collision, possibly with a Colt Cabana return.

So much amazing stuff he could’ve done and so many amazing matches he could’ve had, if only he hadn’t been such a psycho prick. It’s a shame

the all out card is dope

and fuck punk forever, he was the most boring and shitty part of collision

best wrestler in the company my ass. def not at all during his second coming. thank god there are more kinds of wrestling than just being super slow and dull on purpose

good riddance (time of your life) (it’s real glass go cry me a river)

The all out lineup is weak but they have a track record of exceeding expectations on their less exciting cards and I’m sure they’ll do so again here

Slower wrestling does not mean worse wrestling

this guy had me in the fucking palm of his hand during the mjf feud, he could've done fucking anything from there, instead he went for the world title and had a frequently embarrassing bout with page and then he immediately pissed it all away!!!! then they brought him back and gave him his own show kinda and he did a fake world title thing that i thought was corny as hell and he kept being a huge dick wrestlers who were supposed to appear on his fucking show and he pissed it all away! i bet he's not even as responsible for the things ppl like about collision as ppl credit him with. i think tk completely understands what ppl respond to about that show

Slower wrestling does not mean worse wrestling

― Windsor Davies, Saturday, September 2, 2023 5:47 PM (eleven seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

with punk these past few weeks it in fact did, imo

samoa joe, there's a guy who knows how to tell a story through extremely deliberate movements. i'm not missing the trillionth iteration of the elbow drop

All Out has two potential classics in Kenny-Takeshita and Mox-OC, they’ve just come off p much the biggest show ever and yet boy does it feel like this century’s Great American Bash ‘91.

yes kenny/takeshita is gonna destroy the arena

Unfortunately I think it’s the match to be most likely hijacked by annoyed pepsi stans

Collision has been great so far. Worth watching just for Moxley’s promo.

Also the Acclaimed pink trios belts are beautiful

yeah this ppv is amazing

omega/takeshita match of the year

Lmao this show sounds like it was incredible, on holiday and not sure when I'll next have WiFi good enough to order the replay

yeah i cant wait until wednesday and can watch.

There is a funny story circulating about Punk refusing to shake Regal's hand and calling him a "stooge for Triple H" when WR first arrived, but otherwise no new shots fired in the closing stages of the Punk Wars

Idk what kind of final pipe bomb Punk will/is legally able to throw over the wall, or if it'd even make any difference, but if Khan gets through this week having done an 81k show at Wembley, strong buy rates and reviews for both the All shows and successfully ripped off the Punk plaster without major damage to the Chicago market...he's probably gonna feel pretty good about life!!

If they successfully got through a big Chicago week, I think you'd have to be a p big Punk stan to not see how he's fucked up. It seems like the overall feeling seems to be that Tony did right.

The Regal story is hilarious, considering how much Punk thought of himself as a locker room leader and got fired for getting angry at a youngster for how they should act. A real man's man would have handled that situation a looooot differently.

I followed and then quickly unfollowed a self-professed ‘leftist’ wrestling Mastodon account whose whole angle on the thing seems to be that TK is a ‘ghoul’ because he’s a billionaire and Punk is the put-upon working man and I can’t even. I know whose side I’m on in the class struggle but seriously, “Punk=hero” is the hill you want to die on?

Would love to be the kind of working man who can afford to buy 20000 ice creams for the first day back at work

what a fucking show that was.

the Danielson/Starks match.... hooooo boy. it was kind of all smoke and mirrors but it was amazing to see what a true master can achieve when working with those physical restrictions.

the crowd not knowing which way to jump in the 8 man tag and deciding to just *make noise* was hilarious. Switchblade lowkey the most protected guy on the roster - this is excellent news

this felt like a proper reboot for Miro and he seems to have an angle coming out of it - more excellent news

they seem to have come to the realisation in the last few weeks that Samoa Joe is not washed, he is *SAMOA JOE*, and can in fact be a serious player for a major national promotion, this is once again excellent news

it's excellent news all around. Tony Kahn (sic) cured cancer

Holy fuck Darby jumping at Luchasaurus off the top rope and just bouncing off him. This is looking like one of my favourite matches of the year.

The dinosaur is starting to make my list of favourite wrestlers ever. I’m so glad he carried on working with Christian after he noticed he was way better than the jungle perm.

Fascinating to see my questions about 2023 in the first post.

Is Sasha/Mercedes Saraya’s partner? no and injury has kept her out of most of the year

Does RoH ever get TV? no, it has become glorified Dark
Will Miro and Serena Deeb ever be seen again? yes and no. Where the hell is Serena?
Will Mox ever get to go on holiday? lol
Is Punk gone forever? loooooool
Will they ever put more than one women’s match on Dynamite? looooooooooooooool
Will they ever do something serious with the best wrestler in the world, Eddie Kingston? errr… kinda? TBC
Is there going to be Forbidden Door 2? YES AND IT WAS DOPE, BRING ON WRESTLEDREAM

Seriously, Luchasaurus v Darby was 5 star. The ending was so hardcore that the forgotten chair pervert Shawn Spears had to come out to say Christian was being too hardcore with chairs. Shame I need sleep and can’t continue watching, as I’ve only heard great things about Miro v Hobbs

the progress of the Gunn brothers has been sneakily great. It suddenly dawned on me during their match how great they could go with their talent.

Finally given All Out a proper watch. Genuinely would mark 4 match’s 5 stars and everything else was still very enjoyable. If you told me 10 years ago that Punk’s eventual second blow up & firing would be overshadowed in my mind by a undercard dinosaur, I’d have maybe quit drink&drugs sooner than I did.

Orange Cassidy deserves a lovely holiday. I love that the show ends with a THANK YOU ORANGE standing ovation.

——

It genuinely feels like they need to start a lot of new storylines. Hopefully this coming week has Raw After Wrestlemania vibes. And the great thing is I don’t really know what they may pick*. I think only Miro-Hobbs and Omega-Callis stays as an ongoing feud. The rest of the names get to go back in Tony’s hat.

*half truth, as it seems like MJF-Joe is booked and Eddie-Claudio might just continue forever until the point of X Pac heat.

I know it’s always good but really recommend listening to the Picture in Picture from Jericho-Sammy. I feel like maffew needs to do a mega cut for YouTube, like 4 hours of Tony and Taz just hanging out.

Eddie-Claudio was boss too.

Excited for Wrestle Dream but I’m kinda concerned that it’ll be the second PPV without a world championship match. I don’t know how much the plan was based on Punk, but they seem to have no idea what to do with MJF. And Cole seemingly being injured definitely doesn’t help.

Even though the TV is pretty good right now, it kinda feels like a while back where everything seems a bit aimless. Hopefully Tony and crew are working hard to sort out storylines, because there just doesn’t seem to be any hot feuds anywhere going forward now I think about it. Maybe they should just give Takeshita (/Callis) the title and have everyone fucking hate and chase them while they reset.

I do love these random Dynamites though. Accidental champ Fenix v Jeff Jarrett? Great stuff. A Young Buck v Brian Cage v Cesaro? Tony picked this out of a hat and I love it.

Nothing would make me happier than Edge joining AEW under his Sexton Hardcastle moniker.

Wait is that a possibility? Because that might finally make me care about Edge

There’s no way in hell he’d do it, but one can always dream….

When the hell did MJF start referring to the crowd as his “poors” and why the hell do people cheer it?

Glad to see him against Jay White, hoping Cardblade takes the title

I’m not excited for WrestleDream at all. Currently all of their champions are weak because they have no real competition. MJF especially should be pretty upset by it, but he’s over so maybe that’s enough for him, I don’t know.

Can’t help but notice there’s only one women’s match on the card. At the same time, you’ve got all but one of the ROH belts on main-roster people but never do any recaps of what’s happening on the ROH show so I have no clue what’s going on there. You could give Athena a PPV match (I mean an AEW PPV) but that must never cross their minds.

I really hope BD-ZSJ isn’t a stinker like when Bryan and Jericho tried to have a technical match and just bored me to tears. Of course they have it set up that it could be my favourite match ever, but I do worry about the memory of that Lionheart Jericho match.

oh come on, that match is going to rock

What do people think of the Start Of A New Era branding around this week? They’ve never really done anything like this that I can think (maybe the start of Rampage/CM Punk?)

I can’t imagine the shows change look. Other than Edge or maybe some returning New Japan names (Okada could challenge Bryan to a rematch maybe?) there won’t be a big roster change. Storylines already look to be in place (like Jay White v MJF or the continued rise of the Callis fam) for what happens going forward to Full Gear.

So what makes Wrestle Dream the start of something new? Hopefully it’s not just hot smoke and Tony has something exciting planned.

(Obviously as a non American I won’t care and will be a bit disappointed if it’s just something to do with a streaming service or whatever)

it’s probably a streaming service!

it was not a streaming service

it was honestly just edge, but the crowd losing their minds was worth it

great show. another ppv plagued with innumerable issues that they just knocked out of the fucking park. anytime someone here posts "i'm not excited for [aew ppv] at all" i'm gonna be reflexively like "that means it'll be stupid awesome"

hangman/swerve was a classic, put a belt on swerve within the next year pls

anytime someone here posts “i’m not excited for [aew ppv] at all” i’m gonna be reflexively like “that means it’ll be stupid awesome”

I feel seen. I wasn’t saying it to be contrary or to moan for the sake of it, I genuinely wasn’t feeling this. But the more I thought about Swerve/Hangman, the more I wanted to see it and they really delivered. It felt like a dry run for a future title-on-the-line main event.

It did! Kind of like Rock-Trips matches in 98.

This has been a good show but nothing has really grabbed me tbh. I think I’m not in a great place to concentrate though, someone starts selling and I start looking at my phone. Swerve-Hanger, DBry-ZSJ and the 6 man have been enjoyable though.

Just started the main event and I just love Christian giving us the gun show in his sleeveless turtleneck. Hope Nick Wayne’s mum gets a Karen Jarrett esque role.

I have never cared about Edge and him not being called Sexton Hardcastle isn’t helping. I wonder what youngster he gets put with, if they follow the way they’ve gone with other “legends”. Feel like he could do well with the Martin brothers at his sides, or maybe 2.0

Wait holy fuck this main event has suddenly turned into something absolutely brutal. All I’ve seen people talk about is the Edge reveal, I really wasn’t expecting this! MOTY right here, possibly liking this more than Omega-Ospreay.

Aaaand Edge has gone and ruined it.

Absolutely hate this. Sting is about to be murdered and you need a video, some pyro and to take in the crowd? What a Babyface! Save him already!

that whole last 10 minutes was all over the map, kinda felt like they needed more time in the writers' room to figure that finish out.

AEW = Adams Every Where

this should probably go in the wwe thread but since it was brought up during the Hardys Hey-EW interview i'll post it here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX1TLMNaONk

Ummmm wtf to Max Caster celebrating their win with miming opening up and eating ass?

fka bear country did it first tbf

i like everything about the iron savages gimmick except the name. finally, two wrestlers who drink cum and eat ass

I didn’t know that about Bear Country. Tbf it made me laugh my ass off, I was just very thrown off.

I adore Timeless Toni Storm.

Fascinating to see Jay White’s name has been put on the white board where Punk’s has been wiped off. The bang bang gang are one of my favourite things going at the moment, and I’m getting bored of face-mjf already, so I hope they push Jay to the moon.

toni storm is the most brilliant wrestler in the game rn

I have to hand it to AEW - that is the kind of ending to a ratings war episode that would've made Vince proud.

shida!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

shida!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i did not intend that double post but it reflects my enthusiasm

i was super excited to see the next Toni Storm segment and it just played silent in the background over commercials. idk if that happened to anyone else but that sucked.

it was a silent fillum

Looking forward to catching this Dynamite

Watching DBry v Swerve and it’s brutal. Def worth seeing. It’s not ended yet and it’s already one of my favourite TV matches of the year.

Wow collision looking good too, can't believe the most preternaturally gifted wrestler of the last several decades and possibly ever is going to go one on one with the American Dragon Bryan Danielson

yeah this is really something. two absolute masters of the craft

has Dustin Rhodes retired now? i wanna see both of those guys vs Dustin before they collectively hang it up, itd be the peak of tv wrestling

dustin was in a team with keith lee pretty recently but idk. he might be gradually drifting toward more backstage/production stuff

Only this week I’ve picked up where I left off watching all WWE ppvs in order and I’m in 2003. My second show Judgment Day, was god awful but the end of the battle royal had Goldust v Christian go at it for a bit. Feels like it might be a mid card feud from that time I might see a lot of, unless that’s when Dustin got sacked for loving the drugs too much. Will report back if I see them have a banger.

Danielson and Dustin wrestled on Dynamite in 2021 and it was pretty good iirc

Dustin I think said 2023 would be the last year of his in ring career but he hasn't had that many matches, not sure if he's been hurt or just not featured in plans much

I would have liked to see him work in the flesh at Wembley, but I guess he was never getting squeezed onto that card. Will settle for the Stinger

This Ric Flair thing is fucking gross. What an awful decision

Disgusting behaviour. Hilarious that people are sad that the billionaire doesn’t have a moral compass. But also who the fuck wants to see sex criminal 700 year old Ric flair on their tv in 2023?

Honestly might be the worst move Tony has made since starting the company, at a time when people already seem down on the product and they aren’t getting crowds in.

I’m not sure he’ll care that much though while he is busy marking out

and doubling down with whatever Flair's energy drink brand.... absolute braindead decision.

Agreed. I do not want to see the sex pest Mumm-Ra on my screen, ever.

idk why AEW is running Ibushi out there - he's performing worse than the Jay White cardboard cutout.

Holy shit this Hangman v Swerve match is not for the weak of heart.

Ok the spot that happened after I wrote that just made me shout FUUUUCK so loud that i made the dog jump out of his sleep. This is beyond gnarly. I think it’s the most violent match AEW have had so far.

8 stars.

I can’t stop thinking about Hanger Swerve. I have to rewatch it but it’s up there with some of my favourite AEW matches of all time.

I’ve seen some people talk shit about the main event storyline but as someone who has watched 1996-2004 WWE recently, it all seemed like normal sport entertaining. The Attitude era would have been shot to pieces so badly if the internet existed in the same way. It seemed like every other week Austin or Goldberg would do the “go away in an ambulance/police car and cast doubt on whether they would make the main event” spot. Wrestling fans need to chill, states captain obvious.

Quite a good PPV with one perfect match and some more characters elevated. Big Bill continues to impress, they seem to have really turned around the women’s division quickly, Swerve looks like a real contender, they got Ospreay to sign… all good stuff.

As some older stars are obviously look to wind down, it is great to see them building up across the roster. There has been times in the past where they have looked uncertain what to do going forward, but now I’m excited I don’t know. The internet crowd may love arguing about ratings and crowd attendances - which seems an incredibly boring waste of time - while I’m just excited that this roster of mostly u35 stars has many directions to go.

Just wish they had less titles and got Eddie (pre show), Takeshita (not on the card) and Kenny (even more unfortunate, Jericho’d) back into the main event scene.

the tbs title threeway was huge for me. they pushed the hell out of skye and julia and they've both been killing it

Are we watching the same shows? Julia is doing great but Skye is a waste of space. She’s had many, many months to get a handle on the basics of portraying a character on TV (let alone put things together in the ring) but you can practically see the cogs moving in her brain. There’s a wealth of talent far more deserving of her spot.

I was lukewarm on the PPV overall. I never really bought into the MJF/Adam Cole thing so the main event didn’t have anything for me (it maybe would have if they turned Bay Bay heel and did a Fingerpoke of Doom angle, but that’s just me fantasy booking a more exciting show for me).

I loved Swerve/Hangman 1 but 2 was not my thing. It’s not 1997 anymore, I don’t pop for real-life gore, especially at those extremes, sorry not sorry.

Can’t stand Will Ospreay, “bruv”, but I suppose I’d rather see him there than Ric Flair.

I’m tired of Orange Cassidy right now. Ditto Jon Moxley. That doesn’t have to be the case. Give me more of a reason to care. I mean, they finally turned MJF around from his weak-champion status a couple of months ago (even if I don’t care for the shtick).

As for the attendance issue, I don’t think it’s a boring waste of time to point out how desperate it looks on TV. Especially the weekly ROH shows, which arguably are stronger than the main roster week to week but there’s clearly fuck-all people there, and it’s frankly embarrassing.

no i don't think we are watching the same shows, and all of these lines of criticism are why i don't talk about wrestling on the internet very much anymore. "i don't pop for real-life gore" ok cornette

"can't stand will ospreay" you can't stand the best wrestler alive? i'm so tired, stop watching the product

skye had the best spot in the three way match! she is weak on the mic but has been radically improving since julia misted her! idk try to enjoy things

i feel like such a child when i respond to stuff like this but it's really like... i love wrestling and i think aew puts on the best shows for people who love wrestling in all its different formations, and every match in full gear showcased a different type of wrestling at its peak. this is exactly what i want! whereas the wider international wrestling community only seemed really enthusiastic about aew when collision was being run by punk and was fucking boring as hell

As for the attendance issue, I don’t think it’s a boring waste of time to point out how desperate it looks on TV. Especially the weekly ROH shows, which arguably are stronger than the main roster week to week but there’s clearly fuck-all people there, and it’s frankly embarrassing.

ROH airs on the fucking internet! caring about this is fucking embarrasing

wrestlenomics poisoning wrestling discourse wherever i go!

and this goes beyond macdara's post but i have been astonished that ppl do not like the mjf/cole/strong/kingdom arc, a storyline that has made two new wrestling fans out of people i know who never really cared about it before! except i am not astonished because it seems wrestling fans have an incredibly narrow, practically invisble-to-the-naked-eye definition of what is good wrestling, and i can't help but think this is why wwe sucked so hard for so long, because they had a very narrow definition of what was "good," and also what they think is "good" is so very very very bad

also obv i don't engage with wwe discourse if i can help it but does anyone talk about raw or nxt crowd attendance? i assume it doesn't matter bc of the dominance of wwe? so conversely i think ppl only talk about aew crowds out of anxiety or a weird hostility toward the product that they feel is confirmed by crowd presence, but also these criticisms are never ever ever levied in good faith, cf. saying roh attendance is pitiful when they tape it after another show. it's along the lines of "damn this aew dark episode they filmed at orlando has such a small crowd, they must be failing because they suck at what they're doing." needless to say los angeles was fucking losing it during the entirety of full gear

god. even typing out this paragraph has made me TIRED. wrestling fans aspire to be the record store clerks i've always hated

I don’t need to go into a detailed repudiation of the characterisation you’ve presented above, other than to say: I don’t like what you like, it comes from an honest place, and that’s the response? Fuck me for having feelings about this stuff, jesus fucking christ.

sorry! obv i got really emotional in response bc you called one of my favorite wrestlers on the program rn a waste of space!

That wasn’t a personal attack, so please don’t take it as such. We’re not going to agree on the merits of Skye Blue and I’m not about to needle you about it either, I’ve made my opinion clear.

You can take back the Cornette jab, too. The last thing I want is to be compared to that dickhead. My feelings on the gore stand; I loved Bret/Austin at Mania 13 so much I made poster for it in art class at school! But that match at the weekend grossed me out. It’s too fucking much and if you don’t appreciate how anyone can feel that way, I don’t know what to say.

it grossed me out too! and i am a bigger fan of death matches than most! but it was the kind of escalation that was completely earned by the storyline, and it made both wrestlers look like insane beautiful bloody titans clashing for the entirety of the match

nothing i said was a personal attack either, it is just a side-effect of enduring a lot of the same "ho-hum" takes about a show that was full of great wrestling, and i'm sorry about the cornette jab, it's just he drives a lot of the discourse about aew i try really hard to remain ignorant about but still manage to see, and i see various permutations of it here pretty often too. but i've said my piece and i will prob not chime in again anytime soon

well, ok, one last thing, i really do not understand not being excited about will ospreay signing. every singles match that guy did this year is a moty candidate. can u fucking imagine what modern-day ospreay vs. modern-day swerve will be like

I’m not excited about Ospreay because there’s still a whiff of #SpeakingOut about him as far as I’m concerned. I take nothing away from his abilities in the ring at all. I used to really enjoy his stuff, and now I don’t. I guess he’s always had the “bruv” thing going on but since I’ve soured on him, it grates on me more. That’s my entirely subjective opinion on him.

but i’ve said my piece and i will prob not chime in again anytime soon

Ah don’t be like that, your opinions and feelings are just as valid as mine or anyone else’s, even if we (meaning everyone here) disagree on stuff.

I can be a moan about stuff and that’s off-putting, I get that. I suppose I’m just in a trough where I wish I liked what it was seeing more. But I’ve been a fan long enough to know that won’t last forever.

Just to be clear, there were no accusations towards Ospreay regarding #speakingout, right? The worst anyone can pin on him is that he didn't disown britwrestling and by association the people in it who did get called out, which, ok, maybe he should have been a harsher critic to his friends and colleagues in public for their horrible actions, but I can understand why he wasn't. If you didn't like his response, fair enough. How do you feel about every WWE employee not criticising Vince when that last bout of accusations came out? Put you off Roman Reigns?

I do get your points though. That TDM was gratuitous. Even Tazz sounded grossed out, and he used to work with New Jack. I just personally loved every second of it. It was insane, carnal violence, with an incredible storytelling and starmaking. And I'm somewhere in the middle of you both when it comes to Skye Blue. She's definitely still green, but I think she has a talented future ahead of her. Kind of reminds me of Bayley before the NXT Sasha matches.

Also fascinated that what you think that the MJF storyline you dont care for needs is a fingerpoke of doom.

One thing I do agree on is Mox seems a bit stale atm. With Bryan winding down, it might be time to end the BCC and give Mox/CC/Yuta all individual refreshes.

over in the WWE thread our very own ahoyhoy has been documenting his own Quixotic attempt to. chronologically watch every WWE PPV (and possibly even some of the TV shows to but that's too masochistic for contemplation) from the legendarily fallow years of the mid 00s (i mean seriously how is he doing it?! that shit is the *PITS*) and he's apparently making excellent progress and even seems to be enjoying himself while doing it!

at the same time he has posted bewilderedly about how mid 80s Jim Crockett / NWA seems to him to be the worst shit ever (paraphrasing slightly) and how did anyone ever enjoy this crap? which is funny because received wrestling-nerd wisdom says that mid 80s Jim Crockett / NWA is some of the greatest stuff ever (discounting Japan) (this is correct) and while mid 00s WWE is the nadir of the art form (also basically correct).

obviously the internet is polluted with Cornette's shitheads and tedious WWE fans but i don't think that's true of any of the small handful of posters that reply to these threads and i don't it's fair to impute bad faith in any given direction when posters express criticisms of AEW itt. people like what they like. no matter how wrong they are

xp yeah Ospreay got called out for some stuff although I am too tired to dredge up the details. not that he was accused of assault or anything but that he used his flex to punish a woman that spoke out against one of one his friends, or something? idk it wasn't great. but you're in murky waters when you start writing off wrestlers for being shitty people. you are also of course in murky waters when you start giving shitty people a pass on the basis that all wrestlers are shitty people.

in conclusion, these are murky waters.

I gave up on my network subscription for a bit but I was actually starting to enjoy nwa after 86. Bunkhouse stampede 88 was a real highlight (if you can let the kayfabe of being eliminated from a battle royal over a freaking cage) along with the return of steamboat. Those Flair-Dragon matches still really hold up.

But yeah I think Starrcade 83/84 are like Wrestlemanias 1-5; in which I would only consider rewatching for a couple matches, now I’ve seen them for historical reasons.

Shame to hear that about Ospreay but yeah, it’s murky waters.

Those Flair-Dragon matches still really hold up.

that series absolutely tanked their business. one of those fun times that wrestling fans got to argue out "art vs business, which one is more important". thankfully a definitive answer was reached and everyone felt thoroughly ashamed of themselves. we had learned our lesson and wrestling fans never had to put up with such things again

also did you do the Flair vs Funk 89 feud? that's the pinnacle of the 80s NWA scene.

Ospreay is interesting because for years he represented the "worst excesses" of modern wrestling and was for a time an absolute pariah in certain circles as a result. he reined it in a bit and got quite a lot better but I must confess i'm kinda bemused that he has gained this rep as the undisputed best wrestler in the world. Omega went through a v. similar arc a few years earlier

Danielson would (and god willing will, before he calls it quits) wrestle rings round them both

i assume they know we’ll all need omega/danielson 2 before the latter retires

i mean if he is for really for real about hanging it up next year (and it feels like he probably is) and the Okada match is already pencilled in for the fourth of Jan (which is basically THE MATCH at this stage looking at it from the artistic POV) then yeah we can only hope that they've prepared a short list for the other big PPVs, Omega and Ospreay at the top of that list

Also fascinated that what you think that the MJF storyline you dont care for needs is a fingerpoke of doom.

I mean I’m only half serious about it, but… It’s weird that Adam Cole is the only guy with an injury who’s still on TV every week. Even for a main eventer. Him stepping in for MJF with a gammy ankle (if it’s really that gammy) would have been the perfect set-up: imagine if he had laid down in the ring for Jay White! And I don’t mean it merely from a ‘rile everybody up’ perspective; there’s storyline substance there too. If you’re an MJF guy, don’t you want to see him up against his toughest challenge yet? But nah, they kept the friends-till-the-end thing going and I have no interest in that (nor Bullet Club Gold as they are now, for that matter). Meanwhile, ROH tag teams have no championship to fight for.

ROH should always have been kept separate and run as its own thing. i remember I posted on here around the time that the buyout occurred that it would be a good thing thing that would benefit everyone, cause i really thought it would

a proper developmental brand that only the geeks would actually watch weekly and that would therefore provide the necessary space for people to work on their act in front of ok-sized and reasonably invested crowds, working longer matches higher up the card than they would] be able to on the main AEW shows, good mix of veteran (but not superstar) talent and ppl from the indys looking to get a shot in AEW maybe.

They've gestured towards this iwith guys like Samoa Joe and Eddie Kingston but fundamentally it has all felt a bit pointless. the new AEW Dark. where have the big standalone non-AEW ROH angles been since TK took over?

I did not get to Funk Flair, but i've seen it before.

The ROH botch job is basically key to all of the mess at AEW, isnt it? Too many shows, too many titles, too many wrestlers, creative spread too thin etc.

I'm kinda fascinated by the backlash to the MJF stuff. "People" have called for more sports entertainment type storylines, for "the casuals" etc. and now it is happening, toys are being from out of the pram. I think the reality seems to just be that wrestling fans just don't like wrestling (not MacDara, thinking the more general internet backlash.) I presume it can be broken down by someone much smarter than me as to why.

Like I don't generally watch WWE because I don't care for the style (Seth Rollins brings me out in hives), but I can appreciate what's happening over there. The weird internet ever changing hatred for AEW seems like a whole different kettle of fish though. Like the recent "they only care about Japanese wrestling and obscure indie guys and never sign anyone!" turnaround post signing Edge to "eurgh they are just old wwe guys". I've never listened to Cornette's podcast but he is the ringleader, right? He must be raking it in advertising dick pills. I just had a look on spotify and his weekly podcasts are over 3 hours long! That's longer than Raw! Imagine listening to the 80s nonce with a tennis bat in sparkly trousers for half a work day, that's insane.

where have the big standalone non-AEW ROH angles been since TK took over?

there are a few on the show right now. the big one being athena mentoring billie starkz (prob the best storyline in wrestling rn just imo)

idk i think it’s basically become the developmental brand you described. was dark not developmental? the only missing element is a real tv deal

of course i mention athena and ppl will inevitably complain that she’s not on aew tv or ppvs

the cards for roh have been straight up amazing for months now. it just needs to not be locked behind a paywall that only marks like me subscribe to

i do think mjf and cole not giving up the tag titles when cole got injured was a mistake, and now it’s like the belts are a gimmick just for mjf to wrestle twice per ppv (not something i’m exactly complaining about bc i *liked* the ambulance angle, but it does like completely sideline the title)

I don't watch ROH but FTR-Briscoes seemed like a massive deal that wasn't really shown on AEW tv and is seen as possibly ROHs best tag team feud.

ROH isn’t promoted on the TBS or TNT shows. Maybe they’ve done an onscreen graphic for Final Battle once or twice, but that’s about it. There’s no 60-second recap to boost interest in the show, which I think would help a lot. Maybe that’s a weird contractual thing, like WBD doesn’t want them promoting their own thing, save for PPVs (which are on an WBD-owned app in North America anyway)? So they put the ROH belts on Dynamite and Rampage and Collision but that doesn’t translate to eyes on the show, it only reinforces the idea that the champs are AEW guys you’ll see on the shows you’re already watching so why bother? It sucks because they’re people on the show are trying to give it its own personality beyond a mere Dark replacement (and the women there are killing it, especially).

there are a few on the show right now. the big one being athena mentoring billie starkz (prob the best storyline in wrestling rn just imo)

This much we agree on! I mean, maybe it’s not my absolute favourite thing, but it’s up there.

it’s really amazing character work all around, elevating a young talent, etc. it should always be like this