Reigns and Paul E are still excellent. Like most, I’d love if they could get him more real full-time opponents. We’ll see.

I’ve never cared much about Eddie Kingston but he’s been big fun across from Danielson and Punk the last 2 weeks.

Cowboy shit is coming up and I’m pulling for Page at Full Gear. It’s kinda now or never even if he only gets a short Sting reign.

It sucks that ROH might never be back. It’s a lowkey miracle that they’ve lasted this long tho. Hopefully Jay Lethal doesn’t just take it to the house.

Impact is still sneaking around being a competent rasslin show. I keep saying it cuz I keep seeing it.

WWE has released around SEVENTY people this year. WOW.

I hate that one of them isn’t my mans Ricochet. He could for real be main eventing New Japan shows right now. Am I crazy to think this?

Big E as a good-match machine hoss champ gives me joy and I hope it keeps going.

I like lots of what AEW is doing. I like that Danielson and Punk are working their way up the roster and making a bunch of folks work real matches and look good doing it. And this roster continues to get pretty deep on solid rasslers. I can forget Miro is around and he’s damn near the best dude there. They can damn near just randomly make a card and end up with a parade of good matches. That’s a good spot to be in and you never know when WWE is gonna release 20 people out of nowhere or let a solid hand walk.

And dude was cutting fire-ass promos about Homicide saving his life. I’d seen clips of him before here and there from his Chikara days. And his match against Heidi Lovelace/Ruby Soho is a gem of a cocky heel/fiery babyface who never gives up showcase(https://youtu.be/ZsN4tS72qwo). But yeah he’s been good money with me for the last couple of years.

---------------------------------
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"This (and every, actually) conversation needs more Chesterton and less Mike Francesa." - Walleye

And that's in contrast to AEW's last two PPVs, where a lot of the build-up was a mess, even when the shows themselves turned out to be great.

And of the eight matches annouced so far (I can see them adding one or two more), I'm thinking there's only one or two where I **know** who's going to go over.

And I'm interested in seeing if anyone shows up/debuts. Obviously the no-compete clauses will limit this past week's cuts, but some of the folks from the last round could pop up. WWE's been leaking so much stuff about Bray Wyatt's issues backstage that you sorta expect him to pop up. Or maybe one of the key ROH guys.

Hyped for the weekend regardless.

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His promos remind me of Bully Ray/Tazz-ish, but it seems he's more authentic when doing them. His in-ring stuff seems ok, but he hasn't done anything to wow me. But for the past month or so, he's been one I've been invested in.

----------------------------------
www.maxptah.com
"you gotta be real white to hate on a nxgga for eating." (c) okp infin8

>His promos remind me of Bully Ray/Tazz-ish, but it seems he's
>more authentic when doing them. His in-ring stuff seems ok,
>but he hasn't done anything to wow me. But for the past month
>or so, he's been one I've been invested in.

He doesn’t look like much but his interviews are top shelf usually. Also, I forgot how him and Rusev/Miro went to town recently too. I have no reason to believe that him and Punk won’t do something good at Full Gear. I’m looking forward to it for sure.

I remember seeing him be aight on Impact and I wasn’t immediately amped when he showed up on AEW, but he’s laid down some good work. I’m excited for him in this spot with Punk.

I also love that Punk is going up the ladder in AEW and making damn near everyone look good along the way. The matches have been rock solid and smart and the talking has been about as good as it gets. Between him and Reigns, the whole industry is getting pushed to do better talking..I like it and what it could/should lead to.

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

Shit got dusty in here, for real.

---------------------------------
Photo zine(some images NSFW): http://bit.ly/USaSPhoto

"This (and every, actually) conversation needs more Chesterton and less Mike Francesa." - Walleye

When I saw "Memphis Bloodiest Brawls" that made me nod in approval

----------------------------------
www.maxptah.com
"you gotta be real white to hate on a nxgga for eating." (c) okp infin8

>https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/eddie-kingston-aew-wrestling
>
>Shit got dusty in here, for real.

I finally made it all the way through it. Really good article. It’s the thing..there’s so many dudes going through it to try to show up somewhere wrestling.

AEW has work to do in order to be a hands down great fed. But they are some wonderful SOBs for taking advantage of their resources, signing hella people, and giving shit a chance. It won’t always hit every time. And that’s fine. But to think..them existing got us CM Punk back into rasslin. It saved us from Jericho and Bryan fading from existence. It got us more times to see a bunch of the Lucha Underground folks as well as a bunch of New Japan Gaijins from a few years back. And it might’ve damn saved EK’s life. We have enough dead wrestlers and wrestlers curled up in catering waiting for someone to throw them onto a short tv segment on shows that people generally think are bloated advertisement vessels more than rock solid attempts at wrestling programming.

https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2021/11/10/22774625/xavier-woods-upupdowndown-holdout-wwe-pays-little-to-nothing-youtube-gaming-channel?fbclid=IwAR20BSSQ3-n5v_Enk4cWJr2twRn9Jdm1wZj70GzdtHQS9Q2zOgGm9BOoyO0

Is there any end to WWE’s scumbaggery? Basically most of the money that he would make off of it they count against his downside guarantee, so now Xavier is not producing content until they come to a new agreement. It’s sad that this is even an issue. I’m not a gamer at all, but I’m aware of how big a platform UUDD is. I reckon it’s impossible to calculate how much money it has made the WWE, so naturally, Vince has decided it’s value is nothing. Pay the man already!

>https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2021/11/10/22774625/xavier-woods-upupdowndown-holdout-wwe-pays-little-to-nothing-youtube-gaming-channel?fbclid=IwAR20BSSQ3-n5v_Enk4cWJr2twRn9Jdm1wZj70GzdtHQS9Q2zOgGm9BOoyO0
>
>Is there any end to WWE’s scumbaggery? Basically most of the
>money that he would make off of it they count against his
>downside guarantee, so now Xavier is not producing content
>until they come to a new agreement. It’s sad that this is
>even an issue. I’m not a gamer at all, but I’m aware of
>how big a platform UUDD is. I reckon it’s impossible to
>calculate how much money it has made the WWE, so naturally,
>Vince has decided it’s value is nothing. Pay the man
>already!

WWE needs to figure out that being on the right side of this whole you’re taking in super profits is a good look for them. Especially since they’ve dropped/lost like 70 rasslers this year.

Is healthy. He looked great on Dynamite. Some hate the elaborate flippy stuff. I don’t want it on every match. And not every can/should do it. Lio and that crew did it right. Good times.

Miro is out here doing weird killer promos and I like it. And I know that sob can go in the ring so there’s that too. Him vs Danielson is gonna be so good.

And boy oh boy, Kingston and Punk trying to get to one another in the parking lot? Another clinic. Punk has already been a glorious hire. He has a way of giving things stakes. And I’m a sucker for returns in general. His has been special. And he hasn’t truly sniffed a main event. It’s going to be beautiful when he does. I’m guessing the heat will be flamethrower level. I still think he’s gonna turn heel and some point and set everything on fire. I’m out of superlatives maybe. Shit is good.

Pac/Neville vs Dax..not surprisingly, shit was a party.

>Reigns and Paul E are still excellent. Like most, I’d love
>if they could get him more real full-time opponents. We’ll
>see.
>
>I’ve never cared much about Eddie Kingston but he’s been
>big fun across from Danielson and Punk the last 2 weeks.
>
>Cowboy shit is coming up and I’m pulling for Page at Full
>Gear. It’s kinda now or never even if he only gets a short
>Sting reign.
>
>It sucks that ROH might never be back. It’s a lowkey miracle
>that they’ve lasted this long tho. Hopefully Jay Lethal
>doesn’t just take it to the house.
>
>Impact is still sneaking around being a competent rasslin
>show. I keep saying it cuz I keep seeing it.
>
>WWE has released around SEVENTY people this year. WOW.
>
>I hate that one of them isn’t my mans Ricochet. He could for
>real be main eventing New Japan shows right now. Am I crazy to
>think this?
>
>Big E as a good-match machine hoss champ gives me joy and I
>hope it keeps going.
>
>I like lots of what AEW is doing. I like that Danielson and
>Punk are working their way up the roster and making a bunch of
>folks work real matches and look good doing it. And this
>roster continues to get pretty deep on solid rasslers. I can
>forget Miro is around and he’s damn near the best dude
>there. They can damn near just randomly make a card and end up
>with a parade of good matches. That’s a good spot to be in
>and you never know when WWE is gonna release 20 people out of
>nowhere or let a solid hand walk.
>
>
>

Punk and Kingston pulled apart in an excellent believable heat building segment...then the Inner Circle ATT thing goes on for fucking ever with no urgency, no danger, no edge, and a million fake elbows.

Bobby Fish adds a little danger to a mostly excellent Jungle Boy - Bowens match (except for the finish as i firmly believe that the acclaimed should not be eating pins. perfect DQ situation then let Jungle Boy do his own save JYD style)...then goes back stage to interact with Matt fucking Jackson.

Bryan Danielson and Rocky Romero have a fucking Best of the Super Juniors final on American TV...and then Orange Cassidy gets involved.

JR cant avoid stating the obvious without burying himself as it pertains to Thunder Rosa and Britt Baker...before the coldest women's title match since, well, the last one. (an aside, JRs absolute REFUSAL to let any of the nonsense stick to him is endlessly entertaining lmao)

its so frustrating.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

going to catch this one in an AMC dine-in theater. I'm excited.

Flirting with going. It’s certainly cheaper than ordering it would be and less stressful than finding a bogus stream. AMC has these big comfy recliners too, perfect for eating an edible and watching wrestling on a massive TV. I’m tempted.

I don’t doubt the boys and girls will deliver. It’s a phenomenal card. Tony’s challenge with this show is the sequencing…there’s gonna be some huge ebbs and flows with crowd momentum

>going to catch this one in an AMC dine-in theater. I'm
>excited.

That should be fun and cheaper than PPV!

I’m excited. I kinda think Miro is gonna beat Bryan. And Page is gonna beat Kenny. I can’t shake these feelings. Maybe it’s gas tho. We’ll see!

I'm half worried that they try to either milk a prolonged chase, or donsome goofy shit like debut a new foe for Page, that becomes a distraction.

We've had enough of a journey to crown him. He's as over as anyone in that roster, with a deep connection with the fans, and has been from day one.

So i hope they don't fuck around, because they could kill his momentum after awhile.

It's time.

They can't prolong the "chase" any longer without severely pissing off the fans. They've already done having him lose his #1 contendership twice.

I still buy that the original plan was to give him the belt a few months ago, but giving him time off to be with his newborn just delayed things.

He has to have the match, be the first guy to kick out of the One-Winged Angel, eventually hit him with the Lariat, send everyone home happy, and then celebrate in his home state the next Dynamite.

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>They can't prolong the "chase" any longer without severely
>pissing off the fans. They've already done having him lose his
>#1 contendership twice.
>
>I still buy that the original plan was to give him the belt a
>few months ago, but giving him time off to be with his newborn
>just delayed things.
>
>He has to have the match, be the first guy to kick out of the
>One-Winged Angel, eventually hit him with the Lariat, send
>everyone home happy, and then celebrate in his home state the
>next Dynamite.
>

Yes. It’s a layup. And AEW can make layups. And then Miro vs Page hasn’t been done to death, the match will be grand, and the other stars can get into some cool stuff. Kenny vs Danielson (the rematch) is a party waiting to happen and doesn’t need a title at all, Punk has to keep climbing the ladder, etcetera.

like if Omega brought in Strowman to protect him or something

Buy-In:

Nyla Rose & Jammie Hayter vs Thunder Rosa & Anna Jay
Don't really have strong thoughts, but I'm guessing Rosa & Jay to keep Rosa strong.

Official event:

Miro vs Bryan Danielson
This is tough, but I think I'm leaning Miro giving Danielson his first loss to set him up as a strong World Title challenger. On the off-chance that Omega retains, Danielson winning would set-up at least two more rematches with Omega down the line. But they can still do those even if Danielson and Omega lose. Regardless, this has the potential to be a slightly less awesome version of Walter vs. Dragunov.

Dr. Britt Baker vs Tay Conti
One of the few gimmes on the card. Baker retains. I can see Conti winning in the future, but not yet.


The Inner Circle vs Men Of The Year & American Top Team
Jericho makes Lambert tap out so we can finally shoot this angle in the fucking head. Sammy, Santana and Ortiz, and Men of the Year all have better things to do.

MJF vs Darby Allin
Another one that I'm torn on. I'm leaning Allin, because MJF really doesn't need the win. And whenever they eventually put the title on MJF, he has a built-in first feud. They might finally pull the trigger on Wardlow leaving in the process of this match.


Lucha Bros vs FTR
Man, another tough one. I want it to be the Lucha Bros. Besides, they already lost the AAA titles to FTR. But I also know that Fenix gets hurt all the time, they like to wrestle outside of the country a lot, and they don't really NEED the titles. Leaning towards FTR winning and getting a proper reign, then dropping the AAA titles back to the Lucha Bros. sometime in the next month or so.


CM Punk vs Eddie Kingston
Man, they turned this into a believable blood feud quick, where both are right and wrong. Going with Punk here. Though it's worth noting that I don't think Kingston has had a big singles win since he got to AEW. His biggest win was him and Penta beating the Bucks in a non-title match.


Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus & Christian Cage vs Adam Cole & Young Bucks
Can't really call this one. It should be Jurassic Express and Christian. They've been losing to the Bucks at every turn for over a year. However, Cole being in this match makes me think that his team will win. And the fact that Bucks like to put themselves over.

Cody Rhodes & PAC vs Malakai Black & Andrade El Idolo
Black and Idolo should win. Black is super fucking hot. However, since Cody is still in denial, I can see him putting himself over in hopes of trying to win over the fans.

Kenny Omega vs “Hangman” Adam Page
Said it the post above, it really has to be Page. It's time. If he loses, you might as well let him leave AEW. And it would only serve to boost Omega's ego.

Possible surprises: Maybe Wyatt/Windam shows up at some point? Or maybe one or two of the ROH guys? The card really doesn't need surprise appearances tho.

They did mention Okada and Ishii multiple teams last night... but apparently those guys are going in the greater Bay Area tomorrow, so that's probably not happening.

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played with no breaks between songs, at a speed that blends everything together in a way that you only know they played any one particular song because the playlist never changes

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

it's the same thing Lio Rush suffers from where it all just looks like silly Kung Fu flick choreography

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

http://i.imgur.com/vPqCzVU.jpg

thats incredible

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

>thats incredible

The heel part of Punk’s run is gonna be really good whenever they get to it.

>thats incredible

I hope they have good ideas for Kingston here. He’s in position to do really well if they play their cards right and EK himself stays on the horse.

I had a long day for sure but the show felt long.

Now that AEW has a deep roster with badass workers and various levels of stars, they’re going to have to tell someone somewhere along the card that a 30 minute epic isn’t gonna happen for them on the show. It’s cool for star ratings but it burns the crowd out if everyone is out there kicking out of finishers and doing piledrivers. More than anything else, THAT almost hurt Hangman’s moment tonight. Almost. It was still badass with some cool little nerdy touches.

>Reigns and Paul E are still excellent. Like most, I’d love
>if they could get him more real full-time opponents. We’ll
>see.
>
>I’ve never cared much about Eddie Kingston but he’s been
>big fun across from Danielson and Punk the last 2 weeks.
>
>Cowboy shit is coming up and I’m pulling for Page at Full
>Gear. It’s kinda now or never even if he only gets a short
>Sting reign.
>
>It sucks that ROH might never be back. It’s a lowkey miracle
>that they’ve lasted this long tho. Hopefully Jay Lethal
>doesn’t just take it to the house.
>
>Impact is still sneaking around being a competent rasslin
>show. I keep saying it cuz I keep seeing it.
>
>WWE has released around SEVENTY people this year. WOW.
>
>I hate that one of them isn’t my mans Ricochet. He could for
>real be main eventing New Japan shows right now. Am I crazy to
>think this?
>
>Big E as a good-match machine hoss champ gives me joy and I
>hope it keeps going.
>
>I like lots of what AEW is doing. I like that Danielson and
>Punk are working their way up the roster and making a bunch of
>folks work real matches and look good doing it. And this
>roster continues to get pretty deep on solid rasslers. I can
>forget Miro is around and he’s damn near the best dude
>there. They can damn near just randomly make a card and end up
>with a parade of good matches. That’s a good spot to be in
>and you never know when WWE is gonna release 20 people out of
>nowhere or let a solid hand walk.
>
>
>

I know they know what they're doing and all, but there were just so many of those spots. It got a little uncomfortable for me personally.

But yeah, The match that stood out to me was Miro/Bryan. A whole different pace and style. I honestly wish AEW would trim, say, 20% off the HOLY SHIT! THIS IS AWESOME! Shit.

Randy Orton would do wonders on an AEW roster.

To me , the stuff I enjoy and enjoyed most is the stuff with a More traditional pace and better established characters

The best matches - by far - were Darby Allin/MJF, Miro/BD, and obviously Kingston/Punk.

I agree that if they leverage this well enough they can get Eddie Kingston to another level.

But then what? Then he gets to pal around with Pac and Andrade and other great guys who just don’t really ever do anything? It’s a legitimate concern and not just for EK but for anyone who’s on the ascent…how does AEW navigate these growing pains and come to terms with the fact that not every work rate horse can run every night? And the matches you DO put on the card…is there actual emotion there? Spots and spots and spots - cool, do we have a story here?

Miro/BD finish was weird, Luchas/FTR finish was Vincetastic, and I felll asleep but it sounds like the Omega/Cowboy finish was off too?

Lastly, I guess Adam Cole is having fun, but for how I feel about him this angle is so far beneath him. He should be where Omega is but maybe he doesn’t want to be.

The show felt long. Zoomed out tho, they delivered plenty of good stuff.

Sometimes I wonder if the guys booking these shows have seen too much: attitude era, Cena era WWE, vintage nwa, best days All Japan, ROH workrate HOF stuff, recent resurgence New Japan stuff, and some anime mixed in just cuz. You can see all of in AEW..sometimes all in the same match. And, like a lot of people say as a negative, they assume the viewer knows it too. For me: I’ve seen plenty of that shit, so this approach doesn’t completely turn me off even when the kickouts and finishes get obviously a tad heavy.

The biggest crime is when they do two or more of the same type of match and/or finish on the same show. It’s bad booking straight up and down and there’s no excuse. That’s WCW, ROH and New Japan at their worst shit.

On the other hand, we’d all die if they just showed up with a non-NXTish WWE show on another channel. Yes we would! We can go back in time and look: we were mostly complaining our asses off about WWE’s main roster. I was saying NXT was better before AEW came around.

So what do they do? Do they TNA themselves by trying to be WWE lite? Ick. Don’t like that as mentioned above. We know they can’t go all ROH either where it’s ‘just wrestling’. NXT, as much as I loved it’s core run, it was kinda ROH with better cameras and occasional badass simple NWA storytelling. But they were smart enough to do shorter shows. 2.5 hours and stuff. 5 matches, video package breaks, different finishers, different match types, well booked shows. There wasn’t gonna be multiple chaotic tag matches with elaborate finishes on the same show like Full Gear had for instance.

Mix this all together and AEW kinda ends up where they are…trying to mix their favorite stuff from everything they’ve ever seen and done to make one big ass mega show every time out.

Half the roster damn near has been through WWE at some point so hey..that speaks very well of the last 20 years of WWE. Aka WWE has helped a lot of people become better wrestlers and characters than they were before. But logically, WWE couldn’t do right by all of these folks even if they wanted do. The shame on them is that they clearly don’t even kinda want to do right by everyone. They’re still on their ‘one huge star and everyone else is basically food’ shit.

So here we are. TK put the money up and we get an American alternative with a fuckton of folks who most of us claimed deserved better than being openly buried on WWE TV or being stuck in Japan getting elbowed in the face and neck a lot. This is good times and I can’t get over how cool it is even as they find their way and try to figure out everything without making all of the same mistakes as all of the shit they’re drawing their inspiration from. If you have a good roster, I’m going to try to give you a chance to work it out.

Oh, and now they have Jay Lethal in position to check off some cool matches for himself on his way to retirement. And he’s not Jericho/damn near done either. Ain’t that nice.

The super great thing from last night: they finished the fucking story with Hangman. He was their ‘gonna be the guy’ guy when they didn’t know if/when they’d ever get anyone else to join who was already a star. That’s adorable now considering they’ve gotten multiple workrate machines and stars from some of everywhere. And goddamn CM Punk! It’s insanely great! But anyway, they could’ve sold out Hangman, said ‘yeah, we have real stars now so fuck this cowboy shit’. But no. Kid got in shape (he looks GOOD), they told the story, Kenny and the Bucks went above and beyond to be assholes and bitches for a year, and then, when it was time: they didn’t bullshit. They did the finish they booked towards. Kenny tried everything but couldn’t stop the train. And the Bucks did the whole ‘it’s time for us to cut the shit and quit cheating for Kenny’ deal..I loved it. We can talk a bunch of shit about nuance but again..think of all of the damn times we got stuck with WWE (and WCW and TNA) booking towards a finish then fucking it off just to swerve everyone. Or to debut someone.

Wait, 3 great things: 2nd, Darby and MJF were excellent. They pretty much stole the show out of the gate. The rest of the night felt like almost everyone trying to outdo what they laid down. Lastly, holy moly CM Punk is a smart, dynamic, and excellent wrestling mind. I raised my eyebrows when he called EK a bum during the lead up..that’s heel shit. The match and promos had obvious callbacks to Punk/Cena. It’s gorgeously nerdy wrestling stuff. I loved it and hope they have a cool direction already laid out. We’ll see. And it’s easily worth checking into.

>To me , the stuff I enjoy and enjoyed most is the stuff with
>a More traditional pace and better established characters
>
>The best matches - by far - were Darby Allin/MJF, Miro/BD, and
>obviously Kingston/Punk.
>
>I agree that if they leverage this well enough they can get
>Eddie Kingston to another level.
>
>But then what? Then he gets to pal around with Pac and Andrade
>and other great guys who just don’t really ever do anything?
>It’s a legitimate concern and not just for EK but for anyone
>who’s on the ascent…how does AEW navigate these growing
>pains and come to terms with the fact that not every work rate
>horse can run every night? And the matches you DO put on the
>card…is there actual emotion there? Spots and spots and
>spots - cool, do we have a story here?
>
>Miro/BD finish was weird, Luchas/FTR finish was Vincetastic,
>and I felll asleep but it sounds like the Omega/Cowboy finish
>was off too?
>
>Lastly, I guess Adam Cole is having fun, but for how I feel
>about him this angle is so far beneath him. He should be where
>Omega is but maybe he doesn’t want to be.
>
>

Yes, the matches tended to go long, but in most cases, it was because it was the blow-off of a feud or solid one-shot match. Which is what PPVs are for. The shortest match was the one where they're obviously going to keep things going, which also works.


The not as good:

Cody and Pac vs. Andrade and Malaki Black.
Really this was fucked up by Cody, as the work was actually solid. But when the crowd is booing the hot tag to Cody and later booing Cody saving the person they actually like, they need to acknowledge the problem. Stop making excuses and trying hard and just turn Cody heel already.

The Inner Circle vs. America's Top Team
The firs problem was that it came on the same night after the pretty grueling Supercliq vs. Christian and Jurassic Express match. It also didn't help that three of the participants were MMA guys and couldn't work, leaving it to Sky and Ego to carry everything for the heels. Dos Santo tried, but wasn't very good: He damn near landed on his head doing the standing moonsault, and was comically late stopping Jericho from doing the Lionsault. But at least it's over.


The solid/okay:

Britt vs. Conti: This really suffered because the Cody match killed the crowd, but was a good match overall. It didnt' need 15 minutes, because the finish was never in doubt, but Conti worked her ass off and looked good while doing it.

The pretty good:

Luchas Bros. vs. FTR: The end was a mess, but I liked everything before that. Probably should have found a away to end it with the Fenix Frog Spalsh.

Supercliq vs. Christian and Jurassic Express
Worked better than I thought it would and the right team went over. Mostly the point was for Jack Perry to "Kill the boy, become the man!" Funny who becoming a grown jungle brain involves smashing Matt Jackson's head in with a chair.


The very good/often great:

MJF vs. Allin
I really thought Darby would win, but it all played perfectly. It played like an inverted version of Cody vs. MJF: Darby refuses to go to the dark side, but loses anyway. And MJF will be absolutely insufferable on Wednesday.

Danielson vs. Miro
Weird ending aside, this was appropriately brutal, and you felt like Danielson survived. The finish did make sure, as awkwardly as it was executed, but of the established neck weakness.

Punk vs. Kingston
Thoroughly entertaining, and Kingston knocking out Punk before the match started was perfect. The hatred seemed real, and you could feel the crowd was conflicted. Clearly it isn't over, nor should it be.

Page vs. Omega
This absolutely worked for me, and Hangman winning was a great feel good moment. Especially him celebrating with the Dark Order. The match itself had the necessary drama. As I said above, I expected Page to kick out of the One-Winged Angel, but him giving Omega one of his own worked to. And the Bucks coming down further adds to the issues they're going to build between Omega and the Bucks & Cole.

So yeah, solid thumbs up. I'm not getting some of the complaints.

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i liked the Lucha Bros tag match but all the rest could go for me.

Darby/MJF was the match of the night imo

<--- Big Baller World Order

Hangman shoulda been talking every goddamned week and Danielson went in HOT

coulda done without the dark order being around but whatever that was fuckin great

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

Danielson's gradual 30 minute heel turn, MJF goes off, and even 2pointOH got some quality time. 35 minutes of something i can squint my eyes at and pretend its real without feeling like an idiot

i swear to god, every 6 weeks its like someone completely different writes the show

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

They're over with the fans and they can eat losses. So for the build-up, Danielson can dismantle Colt, Preston Vance, and Jon Silver (probably in that order) to keep on building heel heat. Then he finally fights and loses to Page, maybe by the end of the year, even more likely for the first Dynamite on TBS.

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>They're over with the fans and they can eat losses. So for
>the build-up, Danielson can dismantle Colt, Preston Vance, and
>Jon Silver (probably in that order) to keep on building heel
>heat. Then he finally fights and loses to Page, maybe by the
>end of the year, even more likely for the first Dynamite on
>TBS.

Yes. Its wrestling 101: first I'm going to beat the hell out of your friends. Then, I'm coming for you.

It works for heels and faces as the barriers. Heel American Dragon going around stomping, kicking, and kneeing underneath guys on his way to Hangman Page is gonna be a party.

rather than a fat goof in a vinyl gimp suit giving Bryan Danielson step-up huricanranas

im just over them. its been two years of them on every single TV show, and the only one who could ever realistically be in a money drawing angle died last year.

its been hammered to death for my taste, and it looks silly to me for them to be embedded into main event angles. sports entertainment to the nth degree.

im sure the fans who emotionally invest in the real lives of these people care about this, im just not one of those fans.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

I would bet Danielson gives Cabana a hellacious ass-beating in front of his home crowd as the opening match on Friday. I could see a stretcher being involved too. Preston Vance obviously had no problem with Moxley destroying his mask and leaving him a bloody mess, and I doubt he'd mind if they implied Danielson broke his arm or something.


>im just over them. its been two years of them on every single
>TV show, and the only one who could ever realistically be in a
>money drawing angle died last year.

I think Brodie dying put them in a weird position. I still believe if Lee were still alive, he would have eventually fought against Page for the soul of the Dark Order. Both with Lee dead, they kind of had to become Faces.

I'd say the before Brodie's death, Jon Silver was well on his way to getting over. They've tried with Vance, probably because he's Lee Jr.'s favorite wrestler and his affiliation with the Nightmare Factory. And rubber gimp suit aside, Uno really can work.

With AEW becoming as crowded as it is, this is a good role for them, and probably why they're on TV so much. There'll always be a place for mid-card faces to be fed to aspiring mega-heels and up-and-comers. It can't always be Frankie Kazarian in those matches.

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>I would bet Danielson gives Cabana a hellacious ass-beating
>in front of his home crowd as the opening match on Friday. I
>could see a stretcher being involved too. Preston Vance
>obviously had no problem with Moxley destroying his mask and
>leaving him a bloody mess, and I doubt he'd mind if they
>implied Danielson broke his arm or something.

that would certainly be the best case scenario. and i must admit i appreciate the beating 10 took from Moxley.


>I think Brodie dying put them in a weird position. I still
>believe if Lee were still alive, he would have eventually
>fought against Page for the soul of the Dark Order. Both with
>Lee dead, they kind of had to become Faces.

i dont really remember but i dont think there was any connection to page with the DO before he died, and they just did a lonely hearts club kind of thing in the aftermath. the best thing they could have done imo was disband after that really well done tribute episode.

>I'd say the before Brodie's death, Jon Silver was well on his
>way to getting over. They've tried with Vance, probably
>because he's Lee Jr.'s favorite wrestler and his affiliation
>with the Nightmare Factory. And rubber gimp suit aside, Uno
>really can work.

John Silver is actually to the point where i think they are holding him back a little bit. not like, maliciously, but in more of a "time to leave the nest little birdy" kind of way.

>With AEW becoming as crowded as it is, this is a good role for
>them, and probably why they're on TV so much. There'll always
>be a place for mid-card faces to be fed to aspiring mega-heels
>and up-and-comers. It can't always be Frankie Kazarian in
>those matches.

poor Frankie lol. that dude deserves a push, and that corny Elite Hunter thing was dead on arrival.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

skipped the HFO crap and the Elite microphone segments, and otherwise that was just what i like. i hate that The Acclaimed are being pounded into dust on TV, but at least theyre on TV all the time.

Sammy Guevara's push is not enjoyable for me tho :/

his wins always ask me to stretch my suspension of disbelief like an 1/8" more than i can go, and it turns into a demonstration sport instead of a struggle. its not silliness, but like, the missed senton shouldve been it. thats a great finish, sammy has an out, and "high risk manoever" carries real meaning.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

>skipped the HFO crap and the Elite microphone segments, and
>otherwise that was just what i like.

The second Elite segment was good, particularly with them incorporating Fish.


>i hate that The
>Acclaimed are being pounded into dust on TV, but at least
>theyre on TV all the time.

They'll be fine. It wasn't that long ago that Martin was getting pinned ever week, and it certainly didn't miss things up with him.


>Sammy Guevara's push is not enjoyable for me tho :/

C'mon, you're tripping. Sammy is really good and that was an awesome match tonight.

I also thought Shida and Nyla was really entertaining. I haven't been as into Rose's stuff lately, and I feel like her and Shida fight all the time. But that turned out to be weel-executed and not paint-by-numbers at all.

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After the way they wrapped the Hangman stuff up so nicely and didn’t Russo Swerve us, I’m paying attention to the Elite when they talk for a while. They’ve earned it. Cornette can keep hanging onto the hate for them forever about their video game matches and some ROH shit from 10 years ago if he wants..that’s his deal, not mine. I DO agree that the matches can overstay their welcome..especially with the bucks, but I’m not violently upset about them. Tonight, they planted the shit out of those Cole vs Kenny seeds. Doing the 2nd interview without Kenny and having Cole being obviously more vocal was especially choice. They obviously get that people damn near expect Elite vs UE if it all works out contractually. C’mon Kyle!

I hope Kenny takes the time off that he needs. When I think of it, it’s kinda crazy how much time lots of main event Americans have missed in the last 25 years and still been fine overall upon their return. Think of a big name, there’s a big chance they missed time at some point in order to continue their career for one reason or another. Brian. The whole Shield. Austin. Haitch. Taker. Shawn. Benoit. Angle. Edge before the big layoff.

And that BD heel turn shit to start the show? Excellent. They planted seeds on that before tonight too. I’m really liking the good stuff like this. It makes sense that some of these signees have to turn heel to abuse the goodwill they’ve been given.

Punk vs MJF? Yes and please. This Punk ladder climb/AEW gauntlet has been a joy..a parade of good shit where lots of people are getting rubs. Aka the shit we constantly say we want is happening right in front of our faces with a guy who looked to be done with the biz forever. It’s all working on me.

I hope they have something for Kingston and Miro to do before they cool off too much.

>>skipped the HFO crap and the Elite microphone segments, and
>>otherwise that was just what i like.
>
>The second Elite segment was good, particularly with them
>incorporating Fish.
>
>
>>i hate that The
>>Acclaimed are being pounded into dust on TV, but at least
>>theyre on TV all the time.
>
>They'll be fine. It wasn't that long ago that Martin was
>getting pinned ever week, and it certainly didn't miss things
>up with him.
>
>
>>Sammy Guevara's push is not enjoyable for me tho :/
>
>C'mon, you're tripping. Sammy is really good and that was an
>awesome match tonight.
>
>I also thought Shida and Nyla was really entertaining. I
>haven't been as into Rose's stuff lately, and I feel like her
>and Shida fight all the time. But that turned out to be
>weel-executed and not paint-by-numbers at all.

Pleasantly surprised to see he's about to feud w/ Punk. Didnt see that one coming.

<--- Big Baller World Order

>The second Elite segment was good, particularly with them
>incorporating Fish.

i have high hopes that the Undisputed Era does something here, but i cant watch the Bucks emote and recite scripted dialogue anymore. their cookie cutter matches are bad enough and im ready for them to take a long walk off a short pier.


>They'll be fine. It wasn't that long ago that Martin was
>getting pinned ever week, and it certainly didn't miss things
>up with him.

he was, but he was also given a PLETHORA of shine spots along the way. The Acclaimed arent being allowed to retain any heat whatsoever. when they invited Dante Martin to join them, Dante Martin dispatched them *by himself*. where is the tension leading into a match where Dante has help? why couldnt they stack up 2-3 weeks of heat before eating said pins? they're being treated like ineffectual jabronies by a booker who doesnt know how to build heels.

>C'mon, you're tripping. Sammy is really good and that was an
>awesome match tonight.

hes an awesome athlete, and very physically talented. but his matches always have some moment that takes me out of it. tonight it was the missed senton. injured ribs and that mistake should end a match, otherwise i cant help but think about the fact that im watching a fake sport and it makes me hate myself lmao. plus im a huge Jay Lethal fan and i hate the Vince McMahon "bring a guy in to do a job right off the bat" routine.

>I also thought Shida and Nyla was really entertaining. I
>haven't been as into Rose's stuff lately, and I feel like her
>and Shida fight all the time. But that turned out to be
>weel-executed and not paint-by-numbers at all.

i fully agree. i hate that so many matchups woth history just happen to occur in the tournament setting but i really enjoyed this. wish the finish had come immediately following Ms Deeb's interference but thats a minor quibble. i also like that we have a second personal feud going for the women with Deeb and Shida.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

The fact that he can seamlessly transition into heel mode without changing the character is very impressive. I love this feud already.

i was dying laughing. great stuff by him to do it a little bit at a time until he was finally maiming someone for NO reason at all.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

It's been literally two weeks since the last round.

List of victims:

John Morrison
The rest of Hit Row
Tegan Knox
Drake Maverick
Shane Thorne
Jaxson Ryker


Of course, lot of former NXT people here. They've apparently cut almost every former NXT North American champion to make the main roster except Priest and Ricochet.

It also makes their whole "NXT is our development farm!" company line look suspect. They "developed" Hit Row, called them up, and cut them all within weeks. Swerve Scott was probably the only one close to ready for Prime Time.

I think it's also time to concede that Vince might actually be preparing to sell the company.

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Ditch their mouthpiece, throw them on the main roster with that weird ass Sami intro. Pack your shit you’re fired

<--- Big Baller World Order

>It's been literally two weeks since the last round.
>
>List of victims:
>
>John Morrison
>The rest of Hit Row
>Tegan Knox
>Drake Maverick
>Shane Thorne
>Jaxson Ryker
>
>
>Of course, lot of former NXT people here. They've apparently
>cut almost every former NXT North American champion to make
>the main roster except Priest and Ricochet.
>
>It also makes their whole "NXT is our development farm!"
>company line look suspect. They "developed" Hit Row, called
>them up, and cut them all within weeks. Swerve Scott was
>probably the only one close to ready for Prime Time.
>
>I think it's also time to concede that Vince might actually be
>preparing to sell the company.

I think they’re just using whatever excuse to move off of people that they don’t care about. They’re deadset on the concept of ‘the show is the star’, lots of their more brainwashed fans will easily move on from any talent they drop and refuse to reasonably watch anything other than raw/smackdown, and as long as they have their main stars and the money is coming in, it’s whatever to them.

To me as an asshole who likes wrestling and just wants to see some good shit here and there no matter the brand or medium, I want them to trim down to the people they actually want. Then, FUCKING DO SOMETHING WITH THE PEOPLE THEY KEEP. It’s obvious that they’re changing directions from whatever they had planned a few years ago. So cool..do it. Let people out if they don’t fit the vision or whatever.

Quit burying folks on their way out. Don’t put out those shit rumors about attitude or whatever. Fuck that. I have one more request: if people want out of their 90-day no compete so they can show up wherever else and do something, let them the fuck out of it. Don’t be petty. It’s not the rassler’s fault that WWE changed their mind and Triple Haitch is tied up in a cave somewhere while they get rid of every small guy, old guy, and people they just don’t ‘see it’ with.

Here’s the thing zoomed out: they have to be careful with their messaging. If they create an environment where people are scared to go to WWE if they don’t fit a certain mold, they might look around and not like their roster in a few years. Maybe they get it right, almost everyone they keep looks amazing and ends up being okay enough rasslers, and the machine keeps going around their handful of key people. Maybe they get it wrong, everyone looks the same, things go down a bit cuz there’s a lack of juice with the roster, and then they have to go back to the indies to give themselves good cards again. We’ll see!

https://sports.yahoo.com/wwe-fan-charged-with-attempted-assault-for-tackling-seth-rollins-during-raw-174545345.html

------------------
One Hundred.

Apparently dude got catfished by someone impersonating Seth Rollins a few years ago and got scammed hundreds of dollars in giftcards.

Even wilder is I'm pretty sure he's oblivious to the fact that he was catfished. He legit thinks Seth scammed him.

Here's a video of Seth years ago talking about fans being catfished by people pretending to be him: https://streamable.com/9vxjyh

in digging this burst of TV time and a little something with Eddie Kingston. Daniel Garcia is punching way above his weight class on a number of levels, but i bet he makes it a fight

and 2point0 kinda reminds me of the original heel Hart Foundation. i wish there were a babyface tag team like SCU for them to have athletic uptempo matches with, without getting into silly choreography.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

one of my favorite matches ever on Dynamite

unbelievable battle. physical and intense and just fuckin great.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

<--- Big Baller World Order

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

ive been rooting for people, ive been laughing, i stood up twice, and not going crazy for two hours made that main event fun instead of "more drugs 3 hours after i should have gone home"

fucking awesome. july 1997 level awesome.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

>ive been rooting for people, ive been laughing, i stood up
>twice, and not going crazy for two hours made that main event
>fun instead of "more drugs 3 hours after i should have gone
>home"
>
>fucking awesome. july 1997 level awesome.

When the first person who comes out on a rasslin tv show is OVER AS FUCK, AND that person has the nerve to get into a highly enjoyable discussion/situation/match/brawl/whatever, the momentum is real. Punk in Chicago man…they got like 40 real minutes out of it this time. Then the rest of the show didn’t blow it. Sounds like a good raw/nitro from the 90s to me.

Danielson is OBVIOUSLY having a blast, fine ass Hayter/Thunder Rosa tore it down, and even the main had wild energy: the crowd booing the shit out of Cody and being hot for the athletic ridiculousness of everything else in the main…it all worked. To me, here’s why: AEW is doing a good job of establishing who a lot of people on their roster are. It’s often rewarding to watch. Even people who ‘look the same’ generally aren’t. And the roster feels deep because they try to DO SOMETHING with lots of their people. Even damn 2.0 can show up and get over on someone in a segment and the energy of it feels right. Aka Eddie Kingston is gonna wreck Garcia Friday and I want to see it. Aew is doing their job even on those types of matches.

Meanwhile, WWE is like 6 people and everyone else is obviously unimportant and could be future endeavored tomorrow. Everyone looks physically impressive but the stories don't have weight to them beyond Roman. Roman is the best with Paul’s shit being the best icing on any cake around. Paul being shook every time Kayla shows up is my favorite little thing in wrestling right now for instance.

And Punk’s whole shit since he got to AEW? It feels both unpredictable and brilliantly planned somehow at the same time. Everyone involved with him obviously watches the shows and shit fits together. This is where the AEW nerdy wrestling fan approach to storytelling actually works. Everything Punk has done has been magic FOR THE OTHER PERSON. That’s what he talked about ad nauseam when he was on the couch and I was calling him Phil. I thought he was selling wolf tickets and was never coming back. But I was wrong as hell and he’s doing it. Immediately. And repeatedly. And I fucking love it.

MJF was already over but now? 2 interactions with Punk have validated him even more! He’s like top heel behind Cody, who is amazingly selling the bewildered babyface who doesn’t get why folks hate him thing. Dude has been dressed like Homelander for like a year. Dude knows he’s a heel. Just like Roman knows he’s a tweener with heels around him.

It’s good times, good wrestlers, and more good movement coming next year. Wwe is going to keep cutting folks. And if they aren’t going to do right by them, then by all means..drop more people. And Big E is still having good matches all over the place. I’m even pleased with this old Nxt vs nxt 2.0 war games match coming up.

<--- Big Baller World Order

Punk calling Friedman a less popular Miz and that he'd been replaced by Britt Baker were nuclear burns.

Danielson vs. Colt Cabana was absolutely what it needed to be. He embraced being full heel perfectly, and the post match promo was great too. He'll probably destroy Alan Angels or Preston Vance in Atlanta next week. It's perfectly fitting into the whole "WWE goes out of its way to embarrass wrestlers in their hometown" thing.

The Thunder Rosa vs. Jamie Hayter match was better than I expected. And the main event was a lot of fun. They certainly hate Cody in Chicago. It still sorta seems like they're fighting the heel, what with the announcers saying that the fans wouldn't boo him in Atlanta. But that errant superkick to Pac seems like it's dropping hints.

It also sounded like Jim Ross might indeed be stepping away from announcing for a least a little. He's talked about needed to get radiation for skin cancer. At first he planned to take time off, and then reversed earlier this month and said he wouldn't miss anything. But when he did the sign off last night, it came across as one of those "You won't hear me in a while" things. He's said that he wants to do the first TBS show no matter what, so we'll see.

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And the main event was a lot of fun. They certainly
>hate Cody in Chicago. It still sorta seems like they're
>fighting the heel, what with the announcers saying that the
>fans wouldn't boo him in Atlanta. But that errant superkick to
>Pac seems like it's dropping hints.

I don’t believe this was always the plan, but now they’re just rolling with it. I think Cody only becomes a bigger heel by refusing to actually turn heel. If he legitimately pulls the trigger on a heel turn, he probably gets cheered, whereas if he continues to dress like Homelander, has an absurd entrance, but insists he’s actually a good guy, he’s gonna continue to get the shit booed out of him. Think of it as almost HHH playing the role of Cena.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

They teased just enough real-life intrigue so as to sell a match we’ve all seen a dozen times. And the match was good too.

http://i.imgur.com/vPqCzVU.jpg

https://twitter.com/theleemoriarty/status/1466245913215746051

I popped so hard when I saw this.

=================
Official Okay-Super Villain™

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

Though I sorta doubt Excalibur knows who DOOM is.

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Or at least the whole didn't add up to the sum of its parts.

The Page/Danielson stuff was great. Danielson is playing this perfectly and having a blast in the process. And the Dark Order have ended up being perfect foils. Ooh, it's going to be sad when Bryan cripples Silver next week.

Punk & MJF was mostly great too. The Moriarty vs. Punk match itself was dope. And MJF's Hanukah suit/pajamas were awesome. But MJF did pretty much suck on commentary (the exception being "CM stands for 'Cooking Meth.'")

Wardlow was well-used. Both for having him there for MJF to cower behind and then annihilating that jabroni. I think the right play is for him to eventually win the diamond ring. And Punk should help eliminate MJF from the battle royale itself, so he doesn't even get to be in the "finals" match.

'm one the people here who likes Orange Cassidy, but man, that segment was dumb. It mostly succeeded in showing how over Cole is.

And while I mostly liked the Cody/Andrade match, it really was structured to be a "Let's give Cody a brutal win in his 'home town'! The fans will have to cheer him!" thing. It didn't help the flame retardant on his back was distracting as hell, and then he botched sending Andrade through the flaming table.

All things considered, they're doing a decent job in building towards "Winter Is Coming." But things seemed sloppy overall.

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I picked it up at the Cole entrance. Everything Adam Cole is doing and everyone he's working with is beneath him. I'm sure he's personally having more fun than he was in NXT, but the Young Bucks (the Hardly Boys as Cornette calls them) and Orange Cassidy are so inferior to Adam Cole. It's maddening. The most annoying thing is Cole must not care, so maybe he isn't as special as I think he is.

And Cody can take a hike as far as I'm concerned. He just should not be main eventing your program when you have ACTUAL stars like Punk, Danielson, Page, and Miro. I'm beginning to not only be annoyed by him but to actually find him insufferable.

If Tony had left everything up to Cody, Kenny, and the Bucks all along they might be off of TV by now.

. Everything Adam Cole is
>doing and everyone he's working with is beneath him.

but now im thinking HHH knew what to do with him to keep him from his own goofball tendencies

>If Tony had left everything up to Cody, Kenny, and the Bucks
>all along they might be off of TV by now.

well lets not forget that for the first 6 months or so, Cody was the highlight of the whole company. the Jericho program was great, and the MJF stuff was great.

once he went away to do that game show tho, the wheels fell off

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

2point0 showed up for a minute, Thunder Rosa showed up for a minute, and i got to contemplate the unique absurdity of pro wrestling while CM Punk took a real dive in a fake sport

but beyond those 3 things it didnt do much for me as a whole

OH! and the Cornette fan all the way to the right of the hardcam shot with the OUTLAW MUDSHOW sign. he was entertaining as well.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE