AEW 2023: Scissor Me Daddy!

"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