I think AEW has been really good since the 1-year anniversary so it makes me hopeful, but there are still some huge potholes in the road.

>
>FTR-Bucks...why is this seen as good?

I totally understand why some folks hate the Bucks and kinda agree they don't look believable against bigger/more physical tag teams. That being said, I thought this match was awesome, and while the Bucks do get bad at selling injuries sometimes I didn't see that here, or at least I didn't see it as any different than other wrestlers these days. Matt hit that last superkick knowing he was gonna be fucked after it and he was.


>
>Moxley title match, trading moves all over the arena, bunch of
>plunder, thumbtacks, all his indie hits played yet again.


I go back-and-forth on Mox, but his run as champ has served it's purpose: establish the legitimacy of the title. Jericho then Mox (then probably Kenny) makes sense as the first champs in the company. Now when someone newer (like Hangman) eventually wins the title it will mean that much more. I'm not a huge fan of the hardcore stuff, and lord knows AEW has had a few truly uncomfortable moments involving dangerous moves, but I thought Kingston/Mox was pretty compelling stuff even if it wasn't the highlight of the ppv.


>
>the Serena Deeb-Allysin Kay match was really good, and in
>general the NWA women have made the AEW women look really
>amateurish.

I was catching up on New Japan during the buy-in, but I caught the end and it seemed solid.

>
>Cody-Darby was great, and im glad Ricky Starks got a little
>screen time.
>
>Orange Cassidy-John Silver was a perfectly acceptable second
>match, even tho Orange Cassidy is a syndicated rerun by now.
>Its the same thing over and over and over. Where does this
>guy go? Why is he getting shoved down my throat while Jungle
>Boy languishes?

I disagree with the idea that his gimmick has stayed the same. A few months ago he was just a sloth and legitimately didn't care about winning or losing. Now I read it as he only uses that sloth stuff for strategy occasionally. For instance, he did his routine this time around knowing it would frustrate John Silver and get him off his game, but he doesn't really play that shit with the likes of Cody and Jericho for the most part. He's more likely to turn it up at the bell with a bigger opponent to throw them off. Admittedly that might place some of the explanation of the character work in the hands of the announce team. His offense still needs some work to make it a tad more believable, but I think he's pretty close.

To answer your question though, a few months back the dirtsheets said they are planning a big push for Jungleboy but they wanted crowds to be back before they pulled the trigger. Maybe they're waiting for full capactiy/traveling shows or maybe they got cold feet. Idk... I wanna see that push though.


>The women's title match was okay, but again bereft of selling
>despite working an injury angle. Ref Aubrey's authority and
>enforcement of rules made Vickie's interference mean
>something. How about that? Funny how that works...

I really liked the match, and Shida's definitely been their best champ, but they have a lot of work to do with this division. They may have to bite the bullet and give Tessa a bunch of money, even if it goes against their anti-bullying culture. She's the only star that's a free agent right now. I do wanna see a Baker championship run though.


>
>Page-Omega...also okay. The "story" they told is way over
>blown tho.

Agree to disagree on this one. I think they could've handled the post-breakup stuff a bit better, but overall the storytelling on this feud has been phenomenal ever since they won the titles and Hangman teased giving the buckshot lariat to Kenny. It's been one of the rare cases when wrestling does subtlety well. That interview where Kenny listed the Bucks as his favorite tag team and Hangman was surprised he didn't answer them replays in my mind a lot and makes me smile.


>
>this turned into a rant, but fuck. they need a real live
>booker.

I think they need a writer/continuity person. They let some of the wrong people improvise, and the more people are involved in a segment the messier the mic work gets.

They also too often have multiple wrestlers doing the same shit on the same show. If someone gets hit in the balls earlier in the show, I don't want to see that later in the show. If someone takes a bunch of chair shots early in the show, I don't want to see that later in the show. It doesn't appear that it's anyone's job to make sure these issues are smoothed out. They desperately need that.

There are some other clear issues here that they gotta solve in Year 2. The lack of Black stars is pretty noticeable but they're making strides with Hobbs, Scorpio, Private Party, and Swole. The Miro gimmick is DOA and the Dark Order is super fucking corny again. Time to cut bait and repackage those mfers.