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If you actually think about it, Brawl for All is a perfect subject. We discussed this last summer (late July to be specifically) in this same thread, where @odessasteps succinctly hit it on the head. Not that you haven't had shoot fights on the same card as worked fights (I mean promotions in Japan already did this years earlier) before, but to do this during an era where kayfabe in North American wrestling was still critical is mind-boggling. Keep in mind, your biggest star at the time is a guy who is portrayed as the toughest SOB in the world and a mega badass. He was not a part of this. Underneath that is a bunch of supposed rugged tough guys who were lauded for being badasses themselves among smart fans and the boys in the back, and they go out there and proceed to demonstrate and display the worst looking technique and (lack of) fighting acumen you could ever imagine. You got a dude out there with one eye fighting, and you got a bunch of dudes getting concussed and seriously injured while exposing the business. Add in the fact, part of the excuse to do this was you had nothing for most of these guys to do in a creative sense. At no point in wrestling on this side of the Atlantic would it seem somewhat logical to do this except the late 90s. Look at the landscape of actual shoot combat sports. You had John McCain and others putting the screws to UFC/NHB fighting, and UFC's business eventually cratering around that time leading to a two year dark period and overall wouldn't fully recover until 2005. PRIDE FC was starting to take off. K-1 was still enjoying great success as well in the kakutougi boom. You had HBO boxing (through TVKO PPV) becoming somewhat bloated and beginning to over saturate the market, but still producing big marquee fights from time to time. Mike Tyson was his own phenomenon post Holyfield fights which WWF only helped to amplify months earlier, and he hadn't been reinstated yet to boxing. Toughman contests began to become prominent. The very next summer, Toughman shows would be airing on FX and doing great ratings. Russo can bullshit and make it seem like this was something that just happened on a whim, but in essence, Brawl for All was one of the most nineties things ever. I mean combat sports (specifically boxing) transformed from this exclusive celebrity event with pomp and circumstance you would associate with something like the Showtime Lakers and the fabulous Forum Club to a more excessive, brash, gritty, and over the top tone and vibe that was quintessential to the mid to late nineties. What was happening in pro wrestling started to parallel that. Instead of just saying, "hey, it's better here since we can keep that aura through controlling the outcomes", they started to play with fire. With this context, it should be considered one of the biggest eyesores in the history of pro wrestling.

The Exalted One segment was cool until they revealed Brodie Lee, but then my one-year-old chose that exact moment to rip his diaper off and shit on the floor. Otherwise it was all good.

I'm still laughing to myself thinking of Chuck standing there, wheels turning in his head where he can say literally anything, and he goes, "YOU THINK YOU CAN KICK MY FRIEND IN THE DICK?!"

In the same context that WWE chose to portray their show as something they *had* to put out, and ehh, here it is, whatever, AEW really went and did their best with this tonight. Really good show. It made Kip Sabian and Shawn Spears seem interesting. That's no mean feat.

Two things can be true. Those two things: 1) Ryan Satin is a douche. 2) Wresting shouldn’t be happening. Period.

“Christopher Daniels, you aren’t the first out of touch old man not to believe in me, but you’ll be the last.” Brodie Lee taking a shot at VKM.

I don't want to be that guy... but AEW is just such a better run company than WWE from a creative standpoint. They did everything in their empty arena show that we had been asking from WWE and more.. They're just creative man..

Satin is a WWE employee shitting on their direct competition. He has no real concern, he just wants to be a company man. At least by my opinion, anyway.

Somebody make this into an album cover from The Smiths

It's amazing how much more interesting Kip and Penelope are with him as the valet. I'm not saying she's a better wrestler than he is, clearly she isn't, but the act just seems so much more fun this way.

I don't know if this will get me looked down upon but Satin needs to shut up. If these guys weren't at ringside together, they'd be in the back together or at home together or wherever together. I definitely believe we are in a major, major situation but this is just whining, in my book. By his advice, wrestling shouldn't be happening period since that isn't social distancing.

The "Arn Anderson carrying a Waffle House menu" line made me spill my drink.

Broken Matt is a megababyface to AEW’s audience. Would be dumb to try to force him into a heel role. Brodie will get sympathy pops for a while (assuming there are ever fans again) but you can work with him as a heel in the long run.

Well, it definitely had less "missing moves because we are looking at the audience."

1) I have zero problems with wrestling happening right now if it's done well. 2) I fucking loved this show. They did literally everything I asked for and it turned out better than I imagined it would be. I'm not sure how many times they can do this and pull it off, but at least for this week it was awesome, a lot of fun, and a welcome distraction from a lot of stress in the world.

Let's go masked guys! Gambling and drinking at ringside. Paying Butcher and Blade to beat up Jurassic Express. MJF is a national treasure and needs to be protected at all costs. Also: Fuck them kids.

For a show with no crowd, under these circumstances; this show delivered.

Brodie and Matt, yeah yeah, but HOT DAMN that Lance Archer vignette was such good shit, pal.

This show was the epitome of being handed lemons and making lemonade. I thought AEW was going to die a death without fans to cater to, and this was far and away the least depressing live show of any kind I've seen. Referring to the next show as "on the next Dynamite" is an ominous sign though.

Yeah, but the dirty little secret is... I guarantee you, someone on the WWE and AEW (and basically every North American & European) roster already has it. You're still contagious while you're asymptomatic, so everything with any kind of close contact is extremely high risk. The lack of testing is the only thing that's keeping the lights on for Wrestlemania.

When someone comes within 6 feet of you:

I had the enormous privilege of seeing PSH live on stage in Long Day's Journey Into Night several years ago. He was amazing.

I thought I told you guys this was a Bull Nakano gif thread now.

Leave it to Vince to not consider putting the other wrestlers in the audience. Because in WWE kayfabe all the wrestlers hate each other and fans are the dummies that give him money.

I am a huge Jungle Boy fan and recognize this sort of miscommunication can happen, but I couldn't help but laugh my ass off watching Jake Roberts in the background holding his head down and covering his face to avoid being shown corpsing at that botch.

Did I miss the tweet that actually got ratio'ed? What a persecution complex this tool has.

My argument isn't with the statement itself. He is right. But he is a complete hypocrite because he basically works for a company that is doing just as much to work around it as AEW did last night

Shouldn't he want people to get sick so he can pester and harass hospital staff so he can get that big scoop if the guy died?

I loved the vignette wit Archer and Jake... Jake looking on sinister like in the distance.. his fucking promo ruled too. But then they go and have the Matt Hardy reveal and the Vanguard1 spot with Jericho's reaction played out like a movie filmed on live television.. the whole production of this episode was outstanding. So much good shit. But you know what else? They let the performers be themselves! MJF was hilarious all night. I think at one point he yelled "Hey I got 200 on you Tarzan, show me something!" ? And then Sammy and MJF doing karaoke to Judas playing out like "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" from Top Gun.

“Hey Cody, where’d you get that tattoo, Six Flags?!” ~ MJF, ringside.

AEW should've taken the precaution of inviting Satin to the taping because the coronavirus would've contracted him and died.

This parasite should go ask Martha Hart about how much his de facto employers care for their emplo... er "Independent Contractor's" safety. Or how about ask the guys who ended up as hostages of a government who had recently killed and cut up one of their enemies (and apparently began the job while he was still alive).

Everyone is a critic. ?

Satin is a TMZ guy that use to try and call hospitals wrestlers had wound up in for scoopz. Fuck him.

If CM Punk is a WWE employee in some people's minds, then Ryan Satin definitely is too, so...

I loved how they not only put guys at ringside to create noise, but then took it to the next level and used it shoot angles and do bits throughout the show. This was a really strong first effort at this type of show, and if (CDC willing) they get to keep making more of these, I bet they’re going to get really freaking good at it.

Pretty decent show, given the circumstances. The big factor I got out of it was that it felt much more lively than the shit WWE has been putting on. RAW and SD felt soulless and lifeless, and this didn't. They kept the lights down and had the other wrestlers cheering which made it louder, and it was pretty suffice. If this is how they do it for a couple months, it won't feel too awkward. None of the matches were too amazing but they were all pretty solid. The debuts of Hardy and Lee were great but it would have been a LOT more memorable with a real audience, but those are the breaks. Brodie Lee's outfit was terrible, I thought but everything with the Dark Order looked good. MJF and Spears gambling was great. Most of the little things they added as filler like that were fun, along with the Schiavone interviews. The WWE needs to learn something from this show on how to present their product going forward.

This show absolutely smoked what WWE is doing given the same circumstances. So many great ideas executed well that provided a much better vibe. This shit was great.

In retrospect, bringing Lawler to RAW probably is the least defensible move either company has done in this. A 70 year old man with past heart problems should not be going through airports right now.

Blood & Guts at the Hardy Compound, make it happen goddamnit. I don't care what kayfabe reason they come up with, but it needs to happen somehow. If you aren't going to do it infront of fans, then just go full on wacky with it. Lucha Bros vs Best Friends can happen in Matt Hardy's driveway. Wardlow vs Luchasaurus can happen with literal lumberjacks surrounding the ring, on break from their job of taking down a tree or two that Matt paid them to remove. I'm assuming Cabana/Kip will happen too, and if you're going to do a comedy match, why not have it in the backyard of a famous wrestler's house?

In terms of presentation, they're smoking the WWE shows. Having the hard cam opposite the stage and the big pyro gives the illusion that this is a big deal, as does the big room. The ambiance and bits everyone's doing at ringside is helping too. Still utterly joyless. But if they insist on doing it, they're putting the other guys to shame.