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I never want to hear Wild Thing again

I agree - Jannetty might not be able to keep up at his age.

Last one:

I wouldn’t believe Hogan if he told me water was wet. Or not hot.

Lord knows I don't want to tell you how to do your job-hobby as you do it as well as any of us, but the reason Wardlow/Cage isn't getting more love probably has something to do with Cole/Jericho. There were live viewers noticing the crowd being off during the opening matches (some reports of the crowd filling in late fwiw), but Cole/Jericho was a straight up ice bath. It's simultaneously the closest thing an AEW PPV has had to a momentum killing late-stage Vince McMahon booking disaster, while also being a workrate failure due simultaneous issues with Jericho's up-and-down old-man physical state + dramatic excesses & Adam Cole's worst-of-the-worst physical believability + indie proclivities. You can equally dog Jericho because he's booking his own stuff as you can Cole for like, NOT BEING ABLE TO UNDO A CHAIN AROUND HIS ANKLE and making the bad planned finish exponentially worse? There's a palpable sense of betrayal from the crowd when two established stars drop a turd like this on an AEW PPV. And then you've got the fact that so much of the other matches were based around shenanigans and run ins and plunder, even though Sabu and Britt were the high points of the match. The first two-thirds of the show can't really be understood unless you know how bad this was. It's legitimately interesting how many ways it failed both itself and the card as a whole. I understand modern wrestling better for having seen it. Even more interesting when you think Jericho vs. Roderick Strong from a couple of weeks ago was a similar match that was a thousand times better. I'm not telling you to put this on immediately, but if you're ever in the mood for an academic hate-watch this one contains multitudes of things to ponder. And it still isn't worse than what Matt Hardy did to All Out 2020.

Dragon running down Nigel big time on the scrum, basically saying Nigel wouldn't stand a chance against him if he came out of retirement. Make of that what you will.

All things considered, I actually liked what the work in the Storm-Hayter match. It's just a shame that Jamie's title reign had to end that way.

So it wasn't until midway through the trios match that I fully realized that this was probably the case. The trios match was really good! Really, really good. Good ideas, great execution, awesome timing, some really strong character bits, a totally unique match up that worked for its uniqueness, with some really compelling stuff having to do with the rules like Bowens having to use the ropes to power out of the leglock, etc. Just a really good face-in-peril with a lot of hope spots and cut offs. They also saved the body part working for that match when it might have helped with the Triple J tag and I can see why. And it's obvious that no one had recovered yet by that point. I'm rarely in the mood for an academic hate-watch, but maybe next time I lose a bet. (I don't have a lot to say about Hayter vs Storm, btw, save for that they did a good job covering if Hayter was really hurt and she actually came off pretty well protected considering it was just a few minutes). So I think this might be a case where you're right and the middle of the PPV was actually quite good but everyone was Shane McMahon vs Undertaker HITC traumatized.

Well I guess the next title shot ain’t going to Adam Cole. Not that it matters. Orange Cassidy is the next challenger any way. The Jericho spinning the wheel to make the deal when he came up with this finish. Yeah. A ref stoppage isn’t something you see everyday. I get why coming up with that might be motivating. It’ll help stand out in a show crowded with battle royals, ladder matches, 4 Ways and a gang brawl. But at least put that fucking chain in your fist if that’s how you want to get there. It’s still not great even then. But Adam Cole is a smaller guy who should be a big brain character who outsmarts and pulls rugs out from underneath. Enough bitching. That 4 Way ruled. They didn’t toss away the money angle and I thought enhanced it by putting expected father Sammy on the spot like that. So many callbacks and group sequences. It was wild. I loved every second of it. You can tell MJF likes these guys and really was looking to elevate them and his rep as a general. I also like how even though AEW doesn’t go too far out of its way to mention WWE as a policy. They refuse to abandon its own continuity with characters that aren’t there any longer. Anarchy was a blast. Bare foot in the thumbtacks. Don’t make me retype it. Just read it again. Over and over. Great googily moogily that fucks my shit UP! I liked the in ring stuff better than the crowd brawling. But still an all timer. Giving Yuta the win and getting props from his crew really hits with me. I think Jade/Taya was an unexpected contender. Very good and exceeded my expectations. Plus the morality play of not running your mouth (actually it was Mark that did the mouthing) and getting what you deserve. Welcome back Stat. I love you AEW.

We're a huge, untapped demographic. I've long considered pitching "International Championship Napping" to a TV network. Three divisions: Pure (no drugs/alcohol/white noise), Freestyle (all the drugs/alcohol/white noise), Extreme (Anechoic Chamber where you can hear your own hair grow, on top of speakers at AC/DC concert, runway 2 at Hartsfield-Jackson). The trick isn't falling asleep; it's waking up in the allotted time.

I feel like I’m more positive on this show than the general consensus here. Jericho/Cole was the only outright stinker to me. And it was really bad. No idea what they were going for there. Randomly turning into a chain match at the end really summed it up well. Jamie/Toni wasn’t good, but I at least understand why it was overbooked gaga, and it didn’t overstay its welcome. Everything else was fun. I loved Stat’s return and I see no problem with hotshotting the belt onto her. It’s past time for Jade to move to another phase, and given Stat’s injury history, there’s no guarantee that her knees wouldn’t explode before you build her up for a title challenge. Just do the damn title change. Get the pop. Move forward. This was a heel getting her comeuppance. Jade has effectively spent most of 2023 squashing nobodies and while complaining that there’s no competition for her. She stuck her nose out too far tonight and she got what she asked for.

OC just said he wants to wrestle ZSJ at the press conference, so let’s get to work manifesting that.

Didn't watch the show, but from the clips I've seen, sounds like Tony Schiavone had the time of his life. At this point, that might be all I care about. EDIT: I might have spoken too soon.

I think Jade needs to stay away from belts for a bit. Now that she doesn't need to be invincible, a real extended back and forth feud would be the best thing for her continued development. She's been stuck in a loop of squash matches and one competitive match every two months. Put her with someone like Shida, or Deeb if you turn her face, and let them go at it for a couple months. Jade is destined to be champ one day, but now you have the freedom to put her into low stakes, high reward matches and try to build a memorable feud for her beyond the Goldbergian who's next thing she's been doing for a year.

the beating Jericho took against Ishii earned him another few years from me, no matter what he does.

Just jumping in to say my absolute highlight of the show was Trent going full Secret Service to take the bullet (and elimination) for OC thus proving once again that they are the BEST friends for good reason.

I love that we’re less than 2 weeks removed from the really good FCA match with Roddy, and we’re already back to the “Jericho should retire” discourse. This man gets zero leeway lol. Absolutely no benefit of the doubt.

Recent NJPW results show that Shooter is at least BCC affiliated, if not a full on member. Just throwing that out there.

It’s like some of y’all ( @LF2)don’t understand that I don’t slander adam Cole because I’m jealous of his luscious hair. I am, but that’s not why. I slander him because he isn’t very good. He’s about the least believable “tough guy” on the roster and he got exposed badly by Chris Jericho, of all people. It’s also funny how he’s perceived as this “workrate god” by certain corners of the internet and yet the second the guy across the ring from him is anything less than fantastic, that shit goes right out the window. At what point do we all stop making excuses for adam Cole and just admit that he’s a product of hype and having a brand built specifically to make him look good for however many years? Starks shouldve won, but I always think that. You could go back in time and insert him in the main event of Mania 19 and I’d still think that. Brand loyalty and whatnot. I dug the hell out of that tag titles match. Jeff Jarrett is out here giving monthly seminars on “getting heat while doing nothing” and it’s phenomenal. Karen Jarrett in 2023 makes me so happy. I really thought Christian was gonna win due to chicanery, but I don’t think Wardlow could’ve taken a loss there, so I get it. Toni Storm has deserved better than she’s gotten, so I’m happy for her. That match was a pillowcase full of buttholes, though. I understand the TBS title switch. It keeps Jade strong if it’s not her first match of the night. You can build the rematch in 3 months just as easily as you could’ve built the Statlander return. Four corners match wasn’t really my thing, but everyone worked hard. Thought Guevara really improved his stock here. Hope MJF isn’t legit hurt. This main was extremely my shit. I will give a modicum of credit where it’s due; as babyshit soft as the Bucks normally come off, they at least came off as willing to die, if still not dangerous or tough. Everything worked here, and I loved my guy Yutes getting the pin. Can’t wait for BCC to squash the Elite again in the double ring cage….

O-Khan and Henare were officially added to the tag title match last night.

My money's on Goldberg.

If this is McGuinness return All in hype, I’ll maybe cry after the match

I'm midway through the PPV. Quick, quick thoughts: I liked the Buy-in Match. I know people complain about the Hardys but Matt is still very good in there. A little slow but everything is measured and looks credible and matters. He stands out on the roster; to some people, it's in a bad way and to me it's in a good way. It's only if he gives in on the criticism that he does stupid stuff. Jeff's a hot mess but that means he can play with people's perceptions like with the ankle. Very Sabu-ish and fitting I guess. Battle Royal was excellently laid out. Spot after spot. Character bit after character bit. I'll write it up tonight for SC. I didn't love Swerve vs OC actually. I thought they brought out the worst in one another. I know you guys were into it, but I'm not looking forward to that match, even if I liked Swerve overall in the match. I skipped Cole vs Jericho. I'm not even going to joke about it. FTR vs Triple J had a good finishing stretch but maybe went a bit long before that. I wasn't feeling the drama. Also, Dax in opening stretches is problematic. He's just not hitting stuff like he did a couple of years ago and hopefully they end up as heels soon where he can let Dash do a lot of that and just grind down on people. Can't wait for the follow up to the guitar shot on Aubrey. I kind of feel like you guys are sleeping on Christian vs Wardlow. It was better than I was expecting given your talking and the gimmick. I would have rather seen a straight up match but they had some clever spots and it rationalized Christian staying in it. I though the finish with Wardlow catching Christian off the ladder right into the power bomb was tremendous. Just an all time ladder match finish and I'm not sure why it's not getting more love. Wardlow's dive should be in the opening of everything but then I feel like Jungle Boy's cage dive is forgotten so who knows.

Jade issuing an open challenge only to be squashed by a returning Statlander is exactly how her title reign should’ve ended. Especially when you consider how historically bad they’ve been at building to Jade matches.

To be fair, Sabu is pretty great.

If I'm not mistaken, the reason that was common in the WWF was because the title match would go before intermission, and intermission was where you could buy tickets for the next month. So you just got done seeing Hogan beat Muraco, get your tickets now to see Hogan vs Bundy next month, and so on. You couldn't have that kind of racket if the champ was on last.

Tony Khan: I've Talked With Goldberg, What I've Talked To Him About Is Between Us "Yeah, I have talked to Bill. It wouldn’t be that unusual. I’ve talked to Bill when he’s not been under contract at times, and I have a good relationship with Bill. I have had a good conversation with him, but I’ve had a lot of great conversations with Bill. His family has done a lot of great things in Jacksonville, he’s related to the Wolfson family, who built the Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville. Bill is a great former football star, I worked in football, and it’s a big part of my life. We have a lot in common and we have a lot of mutual friends, and I have a really good relationship with Bill. I like him a lot. As to what I’ve talked to him about, I would say that’s just between the two of us. It was a good chat. I like Bill a lot, he’s a great guy"

what the fuck was the deal with that singer's mask or whatever the fuck he had on. I'm sure it's been discussed so I'll read through the thread but what the fuck man

My thinking is it’s Mox, Danielson, Yuta, Claudio, Takeshita, Callis (as the build has been focused on him) Vs Omega, Hangman, Jackson M, Jackson N, Ibushi, and Cutler (or Nakazawa in Cutlers spot). That way each team has their own JJ Dillon type that could cost them, and I hope they go with the obvious finish of Callis chickening out of a Golden V Trigger only to eat one anyhow after he’s surrendered.

So if Kenny has 2 friends that will help them in their journey against the BCC, who is the extra member of the BCC? Mox, Danielson, Yuta, Claudio, Takeshita, and ? Vs Omega, Hangman, The Young Bucks, ?, and ?

When the main event finished, I was really happy that the victory music was on tape and not the band coming back out. Apparently they did Mox's original Unscripted Violence song, which is an instrumental with no singing or lyrics. I liked the show. Jericho vs Cole was handicapped by them trying to have a no DQ match on the same show where Anarchy was happening, so they stayed away from Hardcore Wrestling and did Attitude Era comedy brawl spots, only tried to do them seriously. It wasn't great, but it's Jericho vs Cole so I bet Meltzer overrates it. Perhaps Jericho can have Cole come on the podcast and they can explain to the fans why the match was good actually. I thought the 4 way was interesting in that they didn't just follow the WWE 3 way formula of having two guys in the ring and the others waiting outside so they could break up the pin when it was their turn. I mean, it turned into that with the selling, but not until we were a while in and people had actually accrued damage.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to save my money for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 instead. On Adam Cole/Chris Jericho - Cole has never done anything for me, gone off Jericho as well but going on what people have said, I didn't expect it to turn out as bad as that.

Ok if we’re convincing people whether to spend money? Battle Royale was good, like most just made you want to see individual matches. Cole-Jericho was bad, other than Jericho taking a legit beating and doing his best to make something of the match. Tag titles was old school Memphis shenanigans at its finest, outside of the finishers almost every move done in that match could have been seen on TV by 1982. Storm-Hayter was not good but impressive to see what Hayter took given her bad wing. Wardlow-Christian had a couple big holy shit spots. Acclaimed-HoB was really good IMO, reinforced my desire to see a Malakai-Bowens singles match. Waving the dealers choice was dumb AF though. Taya-Jade was Jade’s best match, I think it helped her to have someone larger who could take her stiffness and not get thrown all over. The post-match with the surprise Stat win was one of the biggest wastes of a huge match in the history of wrestling. Four Pillars was MOTN, a well-paced spotfest telling an amazing story. I knew MJF was going to win and yet still I bought some hope spots. The one thing clear from this is that Jungle Boy right now wouldn’t be considered a champion but Darby would and Sammy made his case with a flawless performance. Main was indeed anarchy. The Bucks are a joke BUT damned if they didn’t bleed and take some dumb shit, especially the bare foot spot into the tacks. Kenny Omega is a mutant, taking barbed wire, a fork (repeatedly’, and a screwdriver without bleeding. I loved the band playing for the first 10+ minutes even though they were bad. I wish Takeshita had legit joined BCC. General thoughts: the lackadaisical approach to heel and faces is causing problems right now..

NA 3-way was good, plenty of acton with some neat setups and moments. Dar/Dragon was another good match. Lee and Dar gelled well together, and I dug the bits with Dar's new faction coming together as the match went on. Played into the finish well. Was glad to see the audience into so much of this. Wasn't sure what to expect with Dragon Lee and Noam Dar being somewhat new to NXT viewers compared to everyone else on the show. Curious to see what Dar's new faction will be called. Dug the visual at the end with Lash being the one to hoist Dar up. She is legit the tallest person in the group. Ilja/Dijak was fantastic. The two just beat the shit out of each other with tons of hates shown. Loved the selling from both guys as the match went on. Ilja looked like a star when it was all said and done. Creeds/Gallus was good as expected with Creeds showing some good tag work and passion. Ivy was nice on the outside pumping the crowd up as well. Finish was fine as a continuation of the Ivy/Ava feud. Mostly disappointed since I want to see the Creeds as champs again. Tiffany/Lyra built into a pretty good match with good limb work from Stratton and good selling from Lyra. Was happy to see the bum leg actually play into the match properly at points with it straight up failing Lyra in the end. I think this was the best match I have seen either have in NXT so far. Glad to see them step up successfully. I was especially pleased to see the crowd so behind Stratton. Does make me curious what they do with Lyra. She feels similar to Athena/Ember where she is a good wrestler, but clearly has a character/gimmick the crowd has no idea what to do with it. Athena had the charisma to persevere despite it. Don't think I can say the same for Lyra. Loved Bron/Melo. Melo coming in hot was great, and I loved how Bron mostly powered him down through pure strength and malice throughout the match. Thought the finish was built into well with it being less a big move tradeoff and more of Melo piling on until he finally got Bron down. Really good show, maybe the best NXT PPV/PLE in years which isn't to say the past ones have been bad so much as to how good this show was. The worst match was still fairly good. Thought Ilja/Dijak was MOTN with Bron/Melo not following too far behind as something great. Really hope NXT keeps up this level of quality for bigger shows.

Loan her to New Japan/Stardom for 6 months and then she can work Mercedes after she's healed up

Overall I had a good time but man it started rough. I don't know what the fuck that Jericho/Cole match was. I actually usually enjoy them both but it was just not good, really disjointed, weird, nothing clicked... and it set a bad tone for the night which took time to recover from. Nothing else was below average (if Jamie is legit hurt, I can't hold that match against them) and the last few matches delivered, it just took time to get there. The crowd was weird. There were certainly times their quietness was justified but they weren't really making a lot of noise outside of a couple matches. I don't know if it was poorly mic'ed, didn't have the usual hardcore AEW crowd since it was in Vegas, or what but a crowd not into the wrestling will always reflect poorly on the product. A hot crowd can really make up for iffy action, but a quiet one I think can do the opposite. Not their best PPV but not their worst, would be hard to really recommend it though top to bottom.

If I never saw Jeff Hardy on TV again - I’d be just fine with that.

Battle Royal and last two matches were a lot of fun. The rest was middle of the road at best. Did JR have a more censored version of the Heenan/Pillman "What the F are you doing?" moment at the Clash? He yelled "Hey! Stupid!" at one point and no attention was brought to it. Excalibur said at one point their ankles were getting bumped into, so I wonder if that happened to JR (what with his surgery scar and all).

Last two matches carried the show. Shit absolutely hit the fan in that main event. Kudos to Matt Jackson for taking the bare foot spot on the thumbtacks because YOUCH!~ Four pillars match was amazing and just reaffirms my belief that Darby should be the guy to dethrone MJF. Time for Jade to move onto the AEW Women's title scene finally, and a nice surprise return for Kris Statlander. House of Black should hold onto the title for at least a year, but I want Malakai in the main event scene. Cole/Jericho was not good. I really wanted Planet Jarrett v2 to win the tag titles, but I guess we can't always get what we want. The ladder match was there besides Arn Anderson turning into a cannibal. Wanted an OC title loss, preferably to Swerve or Jay White but I guess we will have to wait just a little bit longer for that. Bring on Forbidden Door!

Not at all. Jade-Taya was decent. 4 Pillars was really good. Anarchy had moments, but also Wild Thing getting screeched at us by a dude in a very questionable mask for 15 minutes. Ending of the tag title match and battle royal were fun shenanigans, but nothing too exciting beforehand. Everything else ranged from horrible (Cole-Jericho), fine but not really necessary to see (TNT, Trios), to sadly what it had to be due to injury (Hayter-Storm). Best off just watching highlights and maybe seeking out the 4 Pillars match

I was already so tired of hearing the "it has to be statlander" as it was, but to have it happen in THEE lamest cheap bullshit way possible. At least do some build up to it. As it were, fuck everything about that nonsense. Not a fan. Took me out entirely but Anarchy ended up pretty fun afterwards. In trying to recall what I did like. Liked how they went about Toni/Jamie with what had to be done considering injury. Good for Toni, who has been on fire as of late. First few matches got a ton of time. Blackjack Battle Royal had a great finale, really thought Swerve might pull it off but thankful for the epic Orange reign to continue. we did get a Sabu table dive, so thumbs up for that at least.

I don't know if I'd believe Hogan talking about a match happening, even if I was there live to see it.

For fuck's sake how can they end Honky Tonk's historic IC Title reign with NO BUILD? Ugh what an utter disgrace of a booking decision!!11!!!! They should have had Warrior calling him out with Honky Tonk dodging him for weeks with different excuses! Lol just a little exaggerated but food for thought. Sometimes fans get stuck too deep in the conventional wisdom bubble. Just because things happen a certain way more often than not doesn't mean when something different happens it's bad. Jade's loss was actually one of the best bits of booking they've done. She didn't get destroyed. She didn't get ruined. She doesn't have the stink of failure on her for losing. Ryback was dead when he lost to Punk. Goldberg was mostly dead when he lost to Nash. Jade is still protected and can easily say it was a fluke and still move up the ladder due to the manor she lost. Stat also gets a giant shot in the arm right out of the return gate. Wrestling needs surprises. This was a perfectly done one. It almost had the buzz of a surprise MITB cash in. It was just a great piece of business and a creative way to past Jade's streak and not turn her into just another person.

Bring it on, but they better pad the god damn ring posts up like WCW used to do with the big Slim Jims on Halloween Havoc

I also tilted my head over the Wild Thing singer's mask. The band is Violent Idols, and the singer routinely wears a facial mask. Did it look awkward? Yes. Not sure it was intentional, but they maybe should've chosen a different color or style for the segment. Jericho and Cole laid an egg on PPV. Not the end of the world. Jericho's still pretty good for his age, but he's still in his 50s and can't work like he did even 20 years ago. I think the feud itself is good, but I don't think they were really ready to put on an unsanctioned match. Not to mention, they were on a card with a ladder match, a no DQ Fatal 4-Way, and an anything-goes hardcore match.

Holy shit that Ilja vs Dijak match was great. Easily the best of Dijak's career and Dragonuv proves he's still one of the best in the world. I commented in the DoN thread that the Anarchy match had plenty of violence but not much room for the spots to breathe - and this was a great comparison to that. The violence wasn't quite as sick - no tacks, barbwire, etc - but it was so much more dramatic because they let the spots reverberate and both guys sold the beatings like a war of attrition. Just a stiff, hellacious grudge match with both guys showing tonnes of fire and elevating their games. It might have been my favourite WWE match of the year.

Yeah, I don't know what you even do with him any more. It's like "this is bad and I feel bad for watching it, someone please help this guy".

This is just my opinion obviously, but FTR vs Omega/Hangman from that show was better than anything from tonight.

I preferred him as “The Punisher” Andrew Martin.