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

A lot said about the in-ring justifiably but AEW has had a hell of a year for promos, with Mox/Britt/Eddie/Miro killing it every week and Punk coming in

And also underrated wrestler of the year Christian

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/eddie-kingston-aew-wrestling

no joke one of the best personal essays i've ever read

Yeah it really got me. Reminds me of a similar one Lukaku did a couple years ago. Really pumped for his match against Punk, really hope he wins

Can't think of anyone who deserves to be spotlighted more than Eddie Kingston. Someone who truly did it all for the love.

While I really agree, that’s also quite true of a lot of AEW wrestlers, and they can’t all have the belt, ya know?

Also true. Either way, I am glad that he's finally contracted somewhere and has a little more security in his life. The pandemic really affected a lot of people as far as their ability to eke out a living through wrestling. Sobering to think about how close he was to hanging up the boots.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXpEDb8BXHw

yo i hope the outstanding, like already-one-of-the-goats-of-promo-exceeding-his-own-capabilities-kinds of promos that eddie kingston delivers at the top of this ends up on tv

Really excited about waking my ass up halfway through the night to see our cowboy kick out the one winged Angel.

wtf @ this ppv

Punk vs Eddie man, fucking intense

that Elite/Jurassic express tag was kind of overindulgent for its placement on a card of this size, but it sure did a lot for Jungle Boy Man

That was my favourite MJF match I think

Miro getting dropped by basically a pro-wres flash knockout after a King's Road style epic kind of shows what AEW had been missing in its first two years of existence IMO (other than Serena Deeb, the actual best worker in America); Punk and Bryan's input over a couple of months has been unreal and I hope the youngins are absorbing everything they can from them while they're around

not sure how hangman vs. omega lived up to the hype. but it did

MJF/Allin was just the best. I don’t care about whatever crap storyline they need to build up, but MJF should be on every PPV.

I also in no way, shape or form got tears at the end of the PPV.

I’m ridiculously tired. I woke up worrying about life, remembered this was on and went for it.

I disliked the start of MJF-Darby with them doing a synchronised dance, at one point you could see them lifting the other guys arm off the mat, as if the dance was so much more than pinning the other guy. They got me after that for a bit. Hated the finish though, it deserved something better than MJF touching his dick 20 times throughout the match.

FTR and Lucha Bros don’t mix at all. Again, horrible finish.

My laptop started playing up during Miro-DBry. Will need to watch again.

Then there seemed to be 3 matches I didn’t really care about, and fast forwarded all through and started to get really sleepy. If it wasn’t motn next, I would have fallen asleep in my Bluetooth headphones. I don’t understand why the Cody tag in particular needed to happen here, and Britt needs more convincing challenges.

Eddie-Punk was fucking great. The Cena tease was a motherfucker.

Jericho needs to go away. Fast forwarded through, only to catch Jericho going up on the ropes, waiting way too long and shouting for JUNIOR! JUNIOR! to come hit him, which was embarrassing.

Jay Lethal is everything I’ve never cared about in TNA/modern indie wrestling. Also has a few allegations that don’t sound too great from #speakingout

That Hangman video! At first I was sad they didn’t go full WM17/My Way and just had a small video. But the second horse vid was great. A great match too. Intrigued to see what happens now. There is a lot of talk about Kenny being injured, about the SuperKliq, Bryan as #1 contender, Punk-Mox-MJF-Miro all as potential other contenders, some big names who could come from the midcard or other promotions too. All the champions up until this point seemed like logical progressions you could see coming a mile off. Now seems like the first time you can’t really predict what’s going to happen. I’m very excited.

All in all, a decent show that I hoped to be a better one. Maybe if I watch it again in a couple days and a better mood, it would be.

i think you should rewatch it

as usual i hated everything surrounding the inner circle/att match but the actual thing was pretty fun

i also disagree about ftr and lucha bros

I’m just not feeling it at all. Top Guys, at the Pinnacle, being Andrade’s hired goons, wearing lame masks, not doing much to make themselves or someone like Fenix shine. He should be bouncing off them like Dante Martin remaking the movie Flubber. Instead it’s just more ciero medo taunts, Tully never looking in position and hating Cash’s mullet.

Lucha Bros need something else. Idk what, as they’ve already recently feuded with the 3 biggest teams on the show (Bucks and JE before this). Mox and Eddie when he returns?

Will definitely rewatch. I now seemingly can’t remember much from the main event, I must have been half asleep.

lucha bros vs top flight (or at least dante/lio) would be very nice, i was just thinking after full gear that i fully expect dante martin to be on an upcoming ppv card. i do LOVE ftr and think the frog mask thing is hilarious so i think i give the whole feud the benefit of the doubt, but i also think the matches are dope

my critiques were: i didn’t want mjf or cody/pac to win their respective matches. superkliq trios match went way too long but maybe it’ll be better on rewatch without a room full of my friends

also why only one women’s match!!!!!! the buy-in doesn’t count!!!! :(

i guess when thunder rosa makes a title run after the tbs tournament that ppv is gonna rock my world

I totally agree about the women. Ruby, Rosa and Deeb could all have legit ppv level feuds. Also my Lucha/FTR is still slight criticism, it’s still better than any tag team stuff coming from the WWE since idk like tlc and maybe one new day feud. It’s just not the high high standards I’ve started to take for granted.

Thought I would rewatch the main event tonight and put on the last hour, which has the ic-att street fight on first.

Holy fuck did they start a street fight with both teams in the corners 1-on-1 in the ring trad tag match? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. Why not just walk off your corner, be the first to pick up a weapon and knock them the fuck out? Instead you just stand there, hoping to be tagged in? So so so so dumb. Feel like I need to hate watch this in full now.

Actually Santana & Ortiz would be perfect for Lucha Bros, after umm, I guess defeating former UFC champions. Gonna skip it.

Had a blast with that whole show more or less top to bottom, some stuff was of a higher standard and some stuff of a lower but it was pretty much all at least enjoyable and I dunno what impossibly high standard they’re supposed to be operating at if you’re going to pick holes in most of the show.

Can’t subscribe to ahoyhoy’s criticisms here. Thought the Minnesota street fight was hilarious throughout, for instance. Lucha bros are a bit sloppy but also very cool so they get a pass.

MJF / Darby and punk / Kingston the highlights for me. The standing ovation for the pinfall trades in the opener was amazing.

GAF about jay lethal though. Thought we were getting switchblade for a second too which only made it the more disappointing

santana and ortiz def deserve a long feud with the lucha bros and a title run

impossible to dismiss any inner circle matches as long as they and/or guevara is involved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_RLB2wynEE

rewatching full gear. mjf vs. darby is one of the best matches i’ve ever seen

in fact, the first three matches were all mindblowing lol

also, i changed my mind, superkliq vs. christian/jurassic express isn’t too long at all

full gear rewatch continues:

say what you will about cody rhodes... that tag match was full of great storytelling. all the blind tags! cody getting knocked out for most of the match when malakai kicked him!

pac somehow being able to twist himself like a pretzel in the air even though he is an enormous man!

there were so many great moments in the tay/britt match too. jeez

Hyped for the era of Cowboy Shit.

Agree with Lucha Bros vs. Santana & Ortiz. They had a pretty epic feud in IMPACT that I loved (and actually, Santana & Ortiz beat Lucha Bros in their last match for IMPACT). I would be very interested, actually, in just a tag team feud between Santana & Ortiz and Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky since Page was half of the tag team that gave Santana & Ortiz their sendoff from IMPACT.

tag team feud between Santana & Ortiz and Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky

feel like this might be coming, one of the best parts of the minnneapolis street fight was santana/ortiz and page/sky going at it in the ring

i forgot that jericho stapled dan lambert in the dick

fun match

(i am still rewatching full gear lol)

kenny kicking out of the one winged angel...... astonishing

totally amazing dynamite on top of that tonight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0YJgm6Auz8

have y'all watched this video series? it's remarkable. hangman's storyline presented documentary style with full clips from every relevant match and bte episode, and, blissfully, with no narration

yeah wow i hadn't seen these but they're really something. i've never been a regular watcher of BTE so this is essential stuff. thanks for flagging!

I watched them all yesterday, so so good. They even got a mention in Page’s cute little declaration, which people should also find and read.

Lmao at meltzer’s young buck love. I guess I need to watch the trios match. I really should have found time for the show when I wasn’t half asleep.

When I rewatched the main event it was fascinating seeing how obviously hurt Omega was from the start. He had one arm up against his chest the whole time like he was struggling, not just selling. Really like rewatching Perfect v Bret or Austin v Shawn. Still went through a table though! Hope he gets a good year off and an insane pop at Full Gear 2022.

kenny kicking out of the one winged angel...... astonishing

I always love how Kenny kicks out of his own finisher(s). When he got hit with the Golden Trigger by The Bucks, he angrily kicked out at less than one.

Watching how Kenny has transformed himself over the years really goes to show just how good the guy is. He's a polarizing figure in wrestling, for sure, but you cannot deny that he knows how to illicit emotion, both in the ring and out of it.

In other news, I really enjoyed the faceoff between Hangman and Danielson. I hope they hold off on having this match for a bit, because I would hate to see Danielson lose just yet, but you know that match is going to make Hangman look like even more of a star than he already does.

I wouldn’t put it past them to have another draw with Page. Could be a cool little narrative to start where he has an apparent ceiling as to who he can beat.

A draw would be very interesting, especially after Danielson goes through the rest of the Dark Order. I thought maybe a double DQ because of some sort of interference, but a draw would leave that door open for a challenge again later, through the obvious claim of "you never beat me."

Honestly, if Kenny comes back heel, I would have to assume that he would use his injuries as an excuse to goad Hangman into another match. I want Hangman's reign to last a year, at least.

It would give Page the added juice of that burn he gave Bryan earlier about only being able to draw against Omega.

Good point. Really, I'm totally fine with getting to see multiple matches between the two. Make Hangman even more of a star let's goooooooo

Unrelated, but aw man, Swole. I was really hoping she was going to have more of a run, soon. At least to see her vs. Ruby in a marquee match.

pic.twitter.com/BWf45RXTlI

— Big Swole Baby (@SwoleWorld) November 30, 2021

swole <3

that sure was a wacky episode of dynamite