Leaderboard

Ruby is pretty much #1 of someone who went from good to great jumping from WWE to AEW. I absolutely love everything she's doing.

beef!

Probably the best Marina Shafir match I've seen. She still looks like she is thinking about every move she has to make, but at least she's game to let Ruby lay it in. Glad we got two Kip Sabian segments, he's replacing Shawn Spears (RIP, the GOAT) as my favourite heel doofus. Since everyone is deciding who they think the Butcher looks like now, this is the first thing I thought of on discord last night. My dad's favourite wrestler, Hardboiled Haggerty

It might just be that he's a big Philadelphia Eagles fan. It seems they've done quite well this season.

It's like if The Warlord had Big Bully Busick's gimmick.

Not trying to be a contrarian, but I liked MJF-Takeshita just a little more than Rush-Bryan

Watching now. Mark Briscoe's eyes bugging out of his skull whenever he got interrupted was hilarious. Interrupted promos being par for the course in AEW just makes his reaction even funnier.

Dear god is this OC/Lee Mortuary match fantastic. I still have not watched Dynamite but I know there were about six dozen MOTYs on it or whatever. But I thought Usos/Ricochet and Braun was going to be the best match of the night. Nope. Such a great match where OC got in his shtick but Lee just kept on wrestling. It was pretty easy to see in this that Lee was not one of the AEW kids who never chatted up Regal by all the wrist work he was doing. And it was an awesome strategy to take out his Orange Punching arm. OC sold and sold and sold. But he is also an elite babyface in showing grit and determination (and in a way no one else does) and manages to Bugs Bunny and out clever the supposedly better mat technician. OC is wrestling’s Fountains of Wayne. He is a master of great, easy-to-watch wrestling storytelling but clever enough to put his own spin on it and everything is just its own unique gem of perfection.

That Dustin/Moguls promo was something else. Maybe I missed the set-up but was there any reason why Dustin, wearing half face-paint, was hanging around a commercial property development construction site? I thought “I like Doritos!” would be the quote of the night but… Then Moguls affiliates comes out are there. I love the wrestling ridiculousness behind it. Did they just follow Dustin around all day and then saw he was doing an interview in the future basement of a mixed use property and decide it was time to strike? Or were they already at the site because Swerve, as a mogul, has invested in future workspace opportunities, and saw Dustin and an AEW announcer wandering in and decided to lay The Natural out? Treach or whatever his name is also has a very steady hand holding a camera. Either way, Swerve wishing Dustin a “Happy Black History Month” was a great line. This was a great “let’s analyze wrestling logic” segment and man we are getting a Swerve versus Dustin Rhodes match, which is something I did not know I needed but man we need this more than anything in our troubled time.

Because EVERYBODY loves the Acclaim

I’m a little buzzed but The Outrunners are fucking great and also to me 100% proof that AEW reads DVDVR and even throws us a bone occasionally.

I really think Jack needs a BOSJ run in NJPW to flesh him out some. It did wonders for Yuta.

I posted this in the merch thread, but wanted to get some more eyes on the question Did AEW ever release the Ruby/Willow shirt they wore in their match against Anna/Tay? I am a huge fan of both and wanted to get one for myself and one for my daughter.....even though she likes both Ruby and Willow but thought "They bled too much Dad, i was scared for them"

HOLY FUCK!

Fox Flight/Elite was straight fire (I once again want - nay, NEED - to shout out the wild closing stretch with Fox and Omega) but there's just simply no topping when Danielson goes full Passion of the Christ - everyone else is playing for 2nd

Butcher's new look is all Eastern European P.Y. Chu Hi and I'm all for it.

He went with option 2 in the wrestler style guide: a big ol’ belt buckle

Clearly, the Khan booking style puts a lot of emphasis on fresh matches/interactions, and to the point of frustration. The lack of title rematches in particular has always felt like a mistake and a hurdle for this 3 years in booker. The Dax Harwood pod this week talking about the first Bucks match and the frustrations with having no follow-up is a great example of this. That said, when laying out the fantasy book, is there enough consideration of the reality of the situation - the injuries, the politics, and all other unforeseen circumstances? You make mention of Miro, who is a great example. We certainly don't know all of the details, but the talk is Miro turned down booking plans because he didn't like them - I think this is pretty well known. He turned them down while his wife takes to podcast interviews stirring up shit with headline leading remarks. Maybe the booking Miro was offered was shitty and he was smart to pass. Or maybe the Meltzer-shared talk of these ex-WWE superstars, with WWEPSTD, refusing to do jobs, etc. is a more accurate account of what's happening. Maybe beloved Miro isn't being a good team player? House of Black is another great example. Matthews and Black were both asking for releases as soon as 'Paul' got in charge and illegally came calling. Are those the kinda guys you really want to put over your company guys/top stars having excellent matches on TV every week? I don't disagree with your Claudio remark, but it's also pretty clear he's long been earmarked for the upcoming ROH show. A show that has taken a long time to get going. Annoyingly long perhaps, but who here has ever tried to negotiate a TV deal while trying to relaunch an entire company? A situation which changes drastically when it's launched on a little known App as opposed to national television. Further, it's fairly safe to assume the increased size of the roster over the past year or so has something to do with this soon-to-be-arriving ROH weekly. I love and see great potential with the Gunns, but I agree they aren't there yet. Oh well, something didn't hit as well as it should have. Not such a big deal. I haven't seen any significant reports of any Mercedes-AEW negotiations, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened, and seems like a stretch to assume it hasn't. I'm not so sure we can rightfully assume it's a simple matter of money with Ms. Mo-nay. I agree that the Khan booking is sometimes frustrating, but it's a lot more difficult for me to overlook the amount of FUN and successes happening every goddamn week. Rush-Danielson just had one of the best TV matches I've ever seen. And it was followed up by a Trios title match that has become the norm as opposed to the jaw dropping talked about match it would have been before AEW started. I watch WWE these days (with a FFWD button close), and it's such a good reminder of all the little things AEW does so well that get overlooked. Simple things like pinfall/submission finishes, respecting tag teams and tag team wrestling, the lack of longwinded promos, the abondment of magic cameras, and all the other awful formulaic McMahon tropes. Complaining is easy, but so is being grateful for what this terrific pro wrestling company is working fabulously hard to offer on a weekly basis.

When the end result is the fetal position I guess it doesn't matter what path you take.

Wait till we discover that it's actually been spelled "Knese" this whole time. Or that TRENCH has a last name.

I think Dax maybe tougher than I am, but I very much relate to him and find him endearing. I’m cheering for him on his personal journey. I really connected with his talk on anxiety and making it clear that he was addressing his mindset and mental state at the time when he was feeling bitter and what he was dealing with in his personal life. A miscarriage is absolutely heartbreaking and I hope their family is doing alright. I understand the headspace of feeling you’re overlooked. I’m not a wrestler but I’ve felt like that at work. Feeling under appreciated, true or not, can be caused by anxiety in a competitive environment. I agree with Dax that the fallout of the Young Bucks match could have been better for FTR. Retrospective fantasy booking you give them a promo and have them work through other teams to get their groove back, etc. Also have the announcers point out the going out of their element and losing because of it would have been a nice touch. I respect that Dax takes responsibility for that and not pointing out he wanted that. I disagree with Dax that the post match angle diminished the match. Going to the next storyline (especially what became a great one for the company) was the right move to make. Flair vs Steamboat wasn’t hurt by switching to Flair vs Funk. Also, the amount of other titles they held, they were clearly on par with the Bucks as the 1a - 1b teams. The issue might be there was no payoff, but that’s a different point to argue. I really think Matt is an instigator in these situations and sadly Dax can be easy to get going. He does have a tough job to bring these topics up, I just think he can be leading a bit at times. I’m really pulling for Dax and will keep listening to him. —— I miss Regal. Give us a monthly Fireside Chat w/ Regal pod. But instead of a cohost you have a rookie ask him a question like how to do a headlock. Hour later we learn the history of British wrestling an a couple of fun anecdotes.

Lacey Evans needs to take over the women’s division. She was already solid to start with but this nasty boot camp trainee gimmick is great. She is laying things in nasty on local talent. I want to see her and Bianca or her and Becky lay into each other for 10 minutes.

The OC-Taiga match saved that show. Such a great match and nice to see OC have to use some mat skills to sneak a win. Aftermath at least ended the show with faces on top, guess Acclaimed are sliding back down the card. The opening trios didn’t do much for me, feels a bit like Claudio and Yuta are spinning their wheels until the ROH tapings and Mox not having anything real to do after carrying the company on his back through 2022. But I’m a huge BCC fan, so I’m biased Congrats to Ruby for having the second or third best Shafir match and making it through without injury. I guess they had Shafir to get Vickie some TV time in El Paso. Speaking of, obviously Rush had a huge match but would have been nice to see Bandido or another luchador in El Paso (and Laredo next week). Backstage stuff was mostly fine to good. The Impractical Jokers segment, on the other hand, reminded me of the worst of late-era WCW. Grateful for the fast-forward button. Jungle Jack does little for me, that match seemed more suited for Dark. When I see people mention him as the potential top babyface I wonder what I’m missing other than his name and his face. Granted, I’ve only been watching for 18 months but he seems like his best role is a tag-team specialist. Again, main event was excellent and another example of OC being in the top 3-5 in the company right now. Meshed real well with Moriarty on the mat and in reversals. Got his spots in but within the story of the match. Sold the arm throughout, to the point of realizing he wasn’t going to win with the Orange Punch and needed to get a flash pin.

I wish stuff like this made air on network TV. Really cool show of mutual respect between Rey and Santos.

Butcher's like a carny strongman at the circus now. It's awesome. You can't beat Kip enough for me to like him, but it sure looks good seeing him get it. In the same fashion will be Preston Vance running into the woodchipper that is BCC. Ruby finally got it -- STIFF is the WAY. She always takes a good licking but adding legit offense has raised her game to the top. I still like Shafir a lot and am willing to wait and watch her evolve unlike some. The Black History Month quote coming from somebody who looks like a Stormfront member was kinda weird. Who is gonna crack the code of Orange? I mean he even beat Shibata. It's gonna be Ibushi, isn't it?

I'm convinced Takeshita gets a big push due to the boss being a mark for his own initials

one announcement was:

Yeah.....that's what that stands for

We need more Texas tornado tag team matches in wrestling.

It's the Blackpool Combat Club! It's Kip Sabian! I can contemplate who is getting pinned. Sabian and Yuta are a hoot in the ring together! The Butcher looks 1920's INSANE now, which I love. B+B+KS are interesting beating the fudge out of Wheeler! MOX is fucking great as the hot tag, as Sabian was at Yuta's level and MOX is way above Sabian's level and Sabian takes an ass beating. Blade is closer to MOX's level so he and Butcher beat on him until Sabian tags in lets MOX tag in Claudio! The finish MORPHS into a Young Bucks 6 man- CRAMMING of just all kinds of stuff into a match. That was fun! Sabian escaped unpinned! Starks vs Garcia should be great if last week was any indication. Ruby Soho takes on Marina Shafir. I can't see this working. ATHENA is the only gal who beat a good match out of Shafir, but let's watch, shall we? This is good. Ruby is laying it in. Shafir is using her KARATE~! to try to get the advantage. Soho starts taking a beating in picture in picture, as she is better working underneath. GREAT DANGEROUS BACKDROP by Soho! This was good. Not ATHENA good, but that was good. POSTMATCH is AWESOME! ALL THE GALS ARE BEATING EACH OTHER UP! Mark Briscoe vs Josh Woods will RULE. Jack Perry puts in an appearance against Ryan Nemeth. I'm confused by the whole Eddie Kingston/House of Black/Ortiz stuff but I'm assuming it leading to Brodie King and Eddie so I'm riding this out. It's Lee Moriarty! It's Orange Cassidy! They fuck around early. They continue fucking around as OC does the hand in the pockets thingy. Lee assumes the role of the Minnesota Wrecking Crew and starts mangling the arm of OC. Cassidy makes Moriarty look like a killer. Michinoku Driver by OC! FOR TWO! Moriarty looks great in this. The finish was good, countering out of a submission into a roll-up! PEE! GORDLOW! PEE! That was kind of an unnecessary gob of wrestling, but it was all good. AEW RULES THE MOTHERIFKKING WORLD!!

Man, I loved loved loved Usos versus Brian and Ricochet. Jey coming down from the stands and reconciling with Jimmy was another great moment in this masterpiece. I loved there was no dissension in the tag match itself — that felt so true to the characters. On top of the great character work, the whole match was so good. Braun and Ricochet are a great team and I hope they get to run together more. Jimmy and Jey pulling out the win because they are the GOATs was the way to win it. And I think they really are both kayfabe and out of kayfabe in WWE history. They are incapable of having anything less than a **** match. Now they also get to flex their acting chops with it and it’s a whole other thing. I did not finish Dax’s podcast this week but he said they would be the match he wants now and damn do we need a hot FTR vs. Usos feud. All of the Bloodline stuff just continues to be the best. It is an absolute joy to watch all of this. Same saying he acknowledges Jey while talking (without talking) about Jey’s awesome saga with Roman was a pretty incredible segment. I also love Heyman being a total duplicitous scumbag, too. This is untouchable. I am going to hate the ending just because I do not want this to end.

Back in my day, all you needed to impress a woman was an '82 Mustang 4 cylinder, a mullet, and an "I broke Wahoo's leg" shirt.

Wouldn’t a Punk / Omega feud be awesome? Especially the part where Punk eviscerates Omega on the mic for like a month before they even have a match? bring Punk back.

No fanny pack for Scott? Rick's fanny pack looks too small to have both of their "gimmicks" in them. I'm guessing Scott had one of his freaks holding his.

That Flair hoodie is dope but everything on that site is insanely expensive. They had some really cool Bret, Andre, and Rey Jr. stuff that has been tempting me over the years.

Ooh, maybe a Nassau County policeman costs him the title because he's the knucklehead who made their job that much more difficult for a few days.

I...

So, updated list with the removal of Briscoe/Lethal. There is so much raw emotion behind it, it isn't fair to rank it against other matches or other ,atches against it. 1. Danielson/Rush, February 8th 2. Danielson v Timothy Thatcher. I loved every single goddamn aspect of this match. 3. Darby/Joe, February 1st 4. Danielson/Bandido 5. Moxley/Hangman, February 1st 6. Fox Flight (Credit whoever coined this in the Dynamite Thread) v The Elite 7. Danielson/Takeshita 8. Willow/Ruby v Anna Jay-AS/Tay Melo 9. Takeshita/MJF 10. Athena/Marina Shafir

I wonder if Bunny v HHHH when home early after the weird landing on suplex. BUNNY = RATINGS but I don't like seeing her do quick jobs. Say what you will about MJF at least he's going whole hog on being a scumbag heel. No cool heel business here

Can't talk about big ol' belt buckles in wrestling without thinking of the Owen rib written about in Foley's first book, where he called someone's room messing with them, pretending to be the local promoter (can't remember the exact details) but said something like '...and if you don't like it, you can come find me in the lobby; I've got on a big cowboy hat, and a big ass belt buckle!' Funny after 20-something years, THAT's the line that stuck with me.

I hated that as well. With friends/teammates like that, who needs enemies?

Himeka was my 2nd fave in Stardom after Tam. I always felt they should've pushed her more. This makes me sad. I'm hoping she and Natsupoi reconcile storyline wise at her retirement ceremony because that friendship always seemed so genuine to me James

That was the only other version I kinda liked, because it was fun. But I still couldn't get past how much I hated the character, as fun as it is. Did Bane appear in Brave and The Bold? I have no memory of it but I'd imagine I'd have liked it since that show was brilliant.

Or point how odd it is that a former Raider and former Chief would team up. And then bring in Ernie to talk about how much better the AFL was than the NFL.

Reminds me of how the hillbillies in South Park react to the kids putting on their own pro wrestling show.

Love that title switch. Actual heels and actual swerves and actual crowd shock reactions that make sense in the broader story being told, with good work beforehand. This was necessary to keep The Acclaimed's act from getting stale and I'm glad they were proactive about it. A lot to like on this show. My mortal eyes did not deserve Danielson/Rush but they will gladly accept what they have seen.

Not at all, I'm glad they're getting them some income. Hopefully, it's enough to allow them to make a change in their housing status. But two things: a) A good deed should be its own reward. If the team is running a program like this, there's no need to get PR/clout points for it. Just help them out. And b) there shouldn't have to be a 'unhoused people pick up trash for money' story, because there shouldn't be unhoused people in the richest country on earth. But that's as far as I'm willing to take this conversation on this forum.