aew 2021: don callis’s sunglass game is on point

A week late to watching Dynamite but Wtf is crypto lio rush?

Reminds me of that trash cyber hacker Sami Callahan nxt gimmick.

i have a theory about it but i guess we'll see

What's the theory?

lio was eliminated by matt hardy at the battle royale so i'm thinking it's a counter "big money lio rush" angle

admittedly it also stinks a little of "let's make miro really into gaming when he debuts, that'll work"

ok lio rush is gonna be a mentor to dante martin? i'll take it

great episode tonight. matches at the start were a little shaky on occasion, but deeb vs. shida and the ladder match were perfect. arn anderson king of promo

so much awesome stuff on this show.

weird cinematics with crazy old Arn Anderson going over to Cody's house in the dead of night to burn merch in the yard is too good. the most interested I've been in Cody's little fiefdom within the company so far.

beyond pleased with the ladder match, especially how the crowd is still fully with Hangman. they were booing Mox! that's gonna be a fun heel run when it happens.

but tbh the best bit was seeing Serena Deeb back. she fucking *owns*. have been missing her since the Riho match earlier this year - I hope she's around for a proper run now because AEW have got so many exciting wrestlers who maybe struggle to get it all together in the ring without a more experienced opponent and Deeb would have bangers with all of them

I would love to see a Mox v. Hangman Page PPV match

I have to imagine that it's only a matter of time!

rampage was excellent, punk vs. garcia was spellbinding and ... ricky starks is a star

Yeah I really want to see more of Starks. He’s been around for a while now but I don’t feel he’s had too much to sink his teeth into, either in matches or storylines. Hopefully this interminable angle with perpetual also-ran Brian Cage is over and Starks can move onwards and upwards.

He’s of a number of midcard guys who I’d like to see out there against Danielson, Omega, Punk, Cole, the young bucks to see what they can do against the top level wrestlers

Really really enjoying Punk’s matches thus far, which I wasn’t necessarily expecting. The technical stuff always felt like the weakest part of his game but his matches since the comeback have been so well paced and put together - legendary wrestler has maybe lost a step in pace but is tough and knows every trick in the book is a character that almost all older wrestlers try to work towards but he’s doing a fantastic job of conveying that in the ring imo

Increasingly convinced that when Punk finally ditches the saccharine “aren’t you guys bored of this yet? I bet you guys are getting bored of this” babyface act and turns heel it’s gonna be an all-timer of a run

Which is all to the good bcuz when the title changes hands to the new top babyface you’ve already got the Punk programme ready to go, not to mention Moxley who I think is also primed to have an electric run as a heel now that they don’t need him to be the babyface star anchoring the whole thing

What a roster, what a company

wtf is shida's 1 legged sabu chaps with access holes look?

has she always had such bad gear and ive never noticed?

Danielson vs Suzuki was masterful. Such a simple, sparse structure to the match, building around the two deadly forearm smashes from Suzuki, the first almost killing Danielson and the second prompting his final burst of ~FIGHTING SPIRIT!!~ Just two consummate craftsmen being given the time and the space to go out there and do the thing they do.

If this is what happens when WWE provokes Tony Khan with their petty counter-booking bullshit then long may that continue

Punk match was great, again. During his absence I had very much internalised the “Punk was only ever a so-so in-ring guy, always pretty sloppy” stuff (RONG) so it’s just a continual delight to see how well he’s working the aging veteran thing. Getting the bodyslam over in 2021 is so much fun

Also I think am finally all in on American Top Team. Dan Lambert was born for this and all the others look like they’re having a great time whenever they go out there

Dan Lambert vs Don Callis vs MJF for best heel promo on the roster, I honestly think Lambert might be the best

Ah yeah Suzuki/Danielson was such gourmet quality pro wrestling, loved how the finish just had to be a knockout blow out of nowhere, no escalating series of 2.9 counts off head drops or whatever. Bryan is just visibly loving every second of this run

I saw people complaining that AEW didn't do enough to show American fans why they should care about Suzuki when he first came in, but honestly you can get his gimmick after watching him ominously walk down the ramp for like three seconds, he's absolutely masterful at playing to big crowds

I think the last live pro wrestling I was the 2019 New Japan show at the Copper Box headlined by Okada vs Suzuki, the crowd totally babyfaced Suzuki from minute one and he just fully leant into it like 80s Hogan playing to the cheap seats, incredible vibe

suzuki/danielson was astonishing, and then there was a really good episode of rampage after!

punk vs. sydal was punk’s best aew match yet, great ring chemistry those two have

Looool Dan Lambert is sooooo good

What was the last heel act that had this much heat wherever they went?

CM Punk refusing to sell the mystery masked men gimmick is funny and gets a big thumbs up

God there’s just so much they do well

That’s a promo from wrestling’s next top babyface champion Hangman Page. Wasn’t sure he had it in him

that show was fire from top to bottom

I’ve not watched yet (not caught last weeks rampage yet either) but has Punk v Team Taz been dropped?

I want me some Hook god dammit

my guess is they had to sideline it bc brian cage finally came back from injury and it was time to figure out “what do we do with brian cage” again

idk, hope it resumes, punk vs. ricky please

dynamite was so good wow

dark order vs. superkliq was like BTE: the match

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMVda-OB3Cs

posting the perfect promo in here for posterity

pac vs. andrade 2 was perfect beyond belief

Miro is an unreal promo, he consistently comes up with such unique verbiage and commits to the bit so hard

body of granite and a neck of sand! this is the shakespearean stuff!

no more homophobia in promos (re: american top team/inner circle)

I'm excited to see if there is any fallout from the Jericho cruise that will start to show up in programming. Notably Danhausen and Ospreay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1qRvq9sXeM

there's a lot to like about tonight's episode of dark. bunch of dynamite-forward promos, a few dark-universe promos, and a genuinely wild card (2 fast 2 fuego, danielson vs. solow)

best dynamite main event ever

shida vs. deeb was also the fucking BEST

the stay-puff reveal is going to be one of those gifs

I only woke up 4 minutes ago and obviously haven’t watched it and yet I love it already. I can’t even hate on the internet being spoilerville

Serena Deeb is the best wrestler in the world. except for Danielson (maybe)

everything she does both on offence and when selling looks fantastic

finally caught up with Dynamite in full after watching Deeb / Shida and the main event on my lunch break earlier. i'm like a broken record over here but it is really astonishing how consistent they are. yet another show where even the worst stuff was at least "good".

I think they're onto something with sleep-deprived new dad Moxley. it's a great pivot away from where he was now he doesn't need to be the top babyface anchoring the show. idk how this world title tournament is gonna go but I think they could do a lot worse then have Moxley give Danielson his first AEW loss in the final. Danielson can take it and it would serve to reestablish Moxley as one of the main guys now that Danielson, Punk, Cole, Black etc. are all there. would be an awesome first feud for Hangman too.

so many places they can go at this stage!

with all that said, not mad on Bobby Fish getting 15 minutes every week given how stacked the rest of the roster is. TK seems to like him a lot. he'd be good working with the young guys and the unsigned indy talent on Dark

lol forgive the fantasy booking stuff. it's been a while since a wrestling company has got me daydreaming about this stuff. if i had more time I'd buy the latest TEW and get it out of my system

I know it's pretty carny, but I popped for the Ghostbusters bit. Classic Elite.

Holy fuck Dragon v Eddie was 5 star. Absolutely perfect.

I love wrestling.

finally watched rampage this morning, think that was the best episode they've ever done. three matches, all bangers

Jon Moxley has allowed me to share with you that he is entering an inpatient alcohol treatment program.  Jon is a beloved member of the AEW family. We all stand with him and Renee, and all of his family and friends, as he shifts his focus to recovery.

— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) November 3, 2021

mox <3

Good on him, can’t imagine being a new parent with that on yr shoulders is a recipe for success.

Yeah, after decades of wrestling encouraging binge and bad behaviour, it’s nice to see tv appearances not mean as much as a mans health. Hope he gets the help he needs.

Mox describes what it feels like to smoke crack in the prologue of his book, and has recounted doing cocaine and going to the library on Renee's podcast. He's definitely a guy that has walked that line, so it's nice to see someone who has that kind of persona in wrestling choosing to get treatment before he spins out of control.

Really a testament to how much parenthood can change some people. I'm really glad that it's transformative in a positive way for him.

Anyone else see Eddie and Punk’s confrontation? Eddie was sooooo good.

I know only about 5 of us watch wrestling here but I feel like I’m December I wanna do a poll of like our fav wrestlers of the year; so much good stuff has happened.

the promo-off between those two… electrifying