AEW 2022: The year of the bloody bunny

even that last belt run that he had to relinquish, Sammy had to have an “interim” belt. It just felt like every angle he was running felt like one he could’ve gotten over in WWE if they’d believed in him.

feels like a shame if he goes there because he’ll get maybe a year or less before getting the shuffle down the card that caused him to leave.

i couldn't watch live tonight, and it's so late i'm saving the last two matches for tomorrow, but wow what an episode

revolution is gonna slap

show is much better with the neck tattoo removed. now the only person on the roster whose storylines/bookings i dread is jericho, and he's actually embroiled in a really good story rn

lambert before anyone.

Love that supposedly Tony was krusty-what-the-hell-was-that.jpg at Cody and Brandi over the past 6 months too and let them leave.

house of black gradually becoming thee stable

At least until Bryan beats Mox next weekend and they get their thing up and running. They've got to follow through on that idea. At first glance it seems a bit TEW fantasy booking but actually if they put those guys together, bring in Lee Moriarty and few other youngsters it has the potential to be the best act in years and the junior guys chosen for those spots will get over like mad

what a Dynamite that was. again. had thought I was totally uninterested in the Page / Cole title programme, Cole not really being my thing, but that smug little asshole coming out with his hands blacked up was supemo level heel work and Page hasn't missed yet in a big match so I'm shelving my prejudice and buying in for now

Punk's "will you be my Valentine?" line was the kind of fan service i love

Switchblade on Friday

stoked for the PPV, as always

sammy's title defenses are increasingly making me worry for his life

and andrade appearing at the end and taking both belts with him... this is a cool story!!! so many cool stories are happening rn

they're firing on almost all cylinders atm for sure.

if i had one criticism on that front i'd say they need to work out a hot programme for Hangman as champ (this Adam Cole, ReDragon, Dark Order thing is fine but it's not hot). a programme where he gets properly featured rather than doing a standalone segment each week. at the moment he feels like the third or fourth most important thing on the show.

his matches have all been amazing but i think they're struggling to keep him hot as a character, as is traditional with a babyface champion who's won the title after a long heated chase.

it doesn't help that Bryan Danielson is always just there, busy being the greatest wrestler who ever lived. not saying they should rush the title off of Hangman onto Danielson, especially so soon after their recent series, but Danielson is just operating at such a high a level rn that it feels incongruous that he isn't champ. he's overshadowing Hangman.

a few months ago I thought the answer was turning Mox and having him go after the title but i'm not sure you can turn that guy atm. even if he joins up with Danielson people will keep cheering him.

idk what the answer is tbh and presumably nor does Tony Khan, which is why we've got this placeholder Adam Cole thing for Revolution.

otoh they could always run Britt vs Thunder Rosa on top at Revolution in which case it doesn't matter that the world title feud isn't that special (they really ought to do this imo and i hope they do)

a bit like Mox vs Jericho, Mox vs Omega and the eventual Hangman vs Omega match in the men's division, the Britt vs Rosa PPV title match has been the obvious destination for the women's title for so long, they should go all in with it. just cause the result is predictable doesn't mean they shouldn't lean into it

yeah mox can't turn, his presence is too how do you say life-affirming while still being the most brutal motherfucker alive

he looks so good rn too ;_;

I agree! Rehab put ten years back ON to Mox's life. It's crazy to look at side by side pictures and see the difference.

I'm hoping that Thunder Rosa finally gets that title. DMD has been great as the heel top of the division, but I wouldn't mind a shake-up, and especially because I anticipate Cole also coming out of his match with the L, I would love to see the shit heel program they would run with both of them having lost.

i'd long given up on rosa's title shot (started assuming kris would take it from britt) but ever since they picked up the thread with mercedes a few weeks ago... man....

i do however enjoy that they've taken nearly a year to get to britt/rosa 2

would you believe that lights out match happened a few weeks before rosa was actually signed? :)

pic.twitter.com/Gz47zXBOCc

— Richie (@richiemalice) February 17, 2022

Looooool funny cause it’s true

Rosa’s coronation has felt as inevitable as Hangman’s was, pleased we’re finally getting there. This title run has done a great job of establishing Britt as a name but it’s done no favours for anyone else. Also the Deeb time limit challenge is obviously building towards a Rosa vs Deeb title defence (series?! Pray for it!) I would pay for multiple PPVs running that match back to back

I’m pleased they shifted the tag titles from Lucha Bros to A Boy and His Dinosaur quite quickly. Don’t like hotshotting of the world title but for the tag and midcard titles it’s good to keep mixing things up.
Not every title run needs to be 8 months long to mean something

By which I mean give Rosa her win and a short title reign then get the title onto the excellence of execution Serena Deeb quicksmart while you’ve still got her in her prime

deeb as a heel champion would be exquisite

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz-DHfkWoPc

one of the best bte's in recent memory

Watching last weeks Dynamite. Fuck me I don't care about Adam Cole. I know I didn't watch his era of nxt but I just can't take him and RD seriously.

Killer promos from Punk and Moxley. I'm more excited for p much any other Revolution match more than the title bout. Kinda hope the women main event, although I still think that needs more heat too.

tbh it feels like the whole of the Elite just needs a program reset. Young Bucks hamming it up worked fine when Caliss, Good Brothers, Omega were around but now it doesn’t have that same feel with Cole/Fish/o’Reilly and that crowd.

will y'all let it play out ffs

adam cole fucking rules

complicated and tense history between bucks, cole, and redragon that rears its head once they're all in the same building, totally destabilizing the chemistry of the elite... i think the program reset you want is happening?

i admit kenny's absence is felt

Oh yes Violence is Forever on Dark let's goooooooo

sorry for yelling this morning, btw somehow the cm punk and mjf feud got even better tonight

The POP for Santana and Trent facing off! They didn’t even point to the wrestlemania sign!

Fans were getting out of their seat for 2 undercard tag guys. Don’t know if I’ve ever seen something like that. This has gotta be a great Dynamite.

That MJF promo was something huh

Still can’t really wrap my head around it. Possibly one of the best promos I’ve ever seen. But still a heel? Like I still kinda hate him trying so hard to suddenly drum up some sympathy.

5 star match and it’s two weeks away.

I enjoyed the Jericho/Kingston showdown but I think Kingston might need his character to move on from underdog who never got his chance, and Jericho needs to just go and reboot.

i like that eddie's opponents run away with the self-sabotage angle, always makes me relate to eddie harder

mjf doing an earnest face promo + punk's reaction was like..... poetry

Eddie Kingston’s reaction to Judas is amazing #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/b5Ja9gVcHU

— Kyle Lewis (@KeepItFiveStar) February 24, 2022

Some absolutely insane character work on this show. I expect it from Eddie but I didn’t see the MJF thing coming. Both of them were incredible.

MJF of course just looking to get close enough to CM Punk to shank him but it felt like at least some of that came from a place of truth (am I being worked?!) and in the space of 5 minutes he effectively blew off all the critics who said he was good on the mic but lacked depth as a character.

An utterly believable origin story for MJF the asshole, and because of the actual connection there with MJF the young fan idolising Punk, this is kinda turning into a lightning in a bottle, once in a lifetime deal.

Just lots of lovely depth, amazing

An utterly believable origin story for MJF the asshole, and because of the actual connection there with MJF the young fan idolising Punk, this is kinda turning into a lightning in a bottle, once in a lifetime deal.

OTM. My first reaction was, “This is his supervillain origin story.”

Have watched that promo back on YouTube several times. P sure now that this is one of the better stories which has ever been told in a wrestling ring. The promo itself was magnificent and Punk’s confused / wary / concerned “was that true” took it up another notch into something approaching uncharted territory for a wrestling angle. Legit decent acting in the wrestling! I can’t quite believe it

UNICEF - Support Children of Ukraine: https://t.co/C29Gtm21G0

Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund: https://t.co/GvAdAs1otF

10 Ruthless Chair Shots Kane Took to the Head: https://t.co/NFJ02hHFQr

— HANGMAN PAGE (@theAdamPage) February 27, 2022

What a tweet

i just saw that Glenn Jacobs tweet after the fact. Page is a legend.

Big news on the start of the show. Will wanna talk about it once everyone’s watched.

Caster’s rap was my favourite of his so far.

Then my laptop ran out of battery and I left my charger at work, so I’m waiting until it’s on itv

really good episode, historically important announcement

the staggered tag team royale was def a better match than "everyone in the ring at once"

rosa trios match felt weird, like they couldn't quite get their rhythm. i also think the coolest parts of the match were prob consigned to picture in picture

everything else was pretty pitch perfect. main event reminded me of nxt when it was good, which figures

oh and as usual punk and mjf figured out a new way to escalate their feud, and it's the greatest fucking thing on television right now

I'm really intrigued with the important announcement. The rumour has it that it will help them get a good deal on a streaming service that isnt available in the UK, so it might not mean much. But there are a lot of possibilities. Do they get it back up and running? Will it be a minor league system? Do they still have a tv show in USA or did that end with this? A lot of speculation around who may be involved if they do get it going too, people on Dark, new signees, older guys like Daniels and Lethal that they have around, people that aren't currently there like... Cody?

Tony Khan knows how to get me really excited about wrestling.

My dream is that this is how we get some Samoa Joe involved. I miss Joe so much, and I really hope that he finds his way back into a ring soon.

It really feels like every single match going into Revolution on Sunday is important, and I can't really call what's going to happen in any of them except for Hangman/Cole, and maybe Cargill/Conti. With the acquisition of ROH officially announced, do we see some "invasion" hit AEW like how it did IMPACT?

the ROH acquisition opens so many doors. I hope TK doesn't try to do everything himself booking both companies and burn out. for all that "AEW has too many wrestlers" has been a tedious concern-troll talking point for the worst element for the last year or so, it is also basically true.

there's massive scope to run ROH as a totally separate enterprise where ppl who aren't getting sufficient ring/tv time on AEW can go to develop and get exposure to live crowds. it would be a big mistake to fold it into the Dynamite/Rampage/Dark/Elevation framework imo. keep it as a completely separate crew, hire a third party to book the shows (or send Daniels or someone) to ensure it keeps its own tone.

But there's just so many people who would benefit. Emi Sakura weirdly was one of the first I thought of. She's amazing but evidently she's not gonna be pushed on AEW tv. she has spoken about being bummed out that she only gets on the Youtube shows and how she came to UUS to be a featured wrestler rather than a trainer / enhancement talent. She could have an amazing run as a dominant heel champ doing her "queen" gimmick with lesser known / less experienced opponents and a stable around her in that sort of environment.

sorry for descending into fantasy booking which is always the lamest, but as a business move this does kinda invite it.

there is an opportunity here to use ROH to make good use of veteran talents who are under-utlised on AEW tv, to give great exposure and training to young prospects they want to work out on AEW tv, to get ppl over with the hardcore audience who could then be brought in "hot", as opposed to simply giving someone a 10 match winning streak on the Youtube shows. it's got the potential to be fucking amazing. and at this stage i trust TK to see all of this and to deliver. a very exciting move.