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We sleep on how useful Lance Archer has been to AEW. He constantly puts over guys all over the place. He always makes them look good. He's not afraid to make other big guys look like a bigger monster than he is. There's no stupid bits that need to try and give him his heat back afterwards. He goes away for a bit and he still has it because he has a cool entrance, look and his squashes are enjoyable. He could have easily have done far less for Wardlow, Page, Miro but made them all look huge. I don't need to see more of him, he's in a just right spot, where I just want to see him kill a guy every few months or so.

Been way behind due to playoff baseball (both the Astros and the Phillies, which if that ends up being the series we’ll have to watch from home so my wife doesn’t get beer poured on her). I cheated and watched the opening of Rampage first so I could see Mistico-Azucar and I was not disappointed even if it wasn’t as flashy as it might have been a decade or so ago. The JTTS 3-way I mostly tuned out on, plus I already had it spoiled. Enjoyed Claudio-Yuta, as always. Main was good, Skye is definitely a little more stiff and adding more to her repertoire, her and Ruby have had good matches in the past, and honestly it was time to finally put Skye over rather than more Outcasts retread. Dynamite: Better than the usual Penta match anyway, but why not let White go over clean. MJF addressing the various angles, and the Max Caster interruption, was good and to the point. MJF did a god job of explaining more of the history and why he’s being so weird about it when he was on commentary for the battle royal. Loved Emi-Shida, was hoping they’d let Emi win so I would get to see the rematch in Philly, but alas, they have better ideas for Shida, right? I was not looking forward to the Copeland segment but it actually drew me in and worked. I truly hope they have him work some stuff away from Christian for a while. Wardlow squash was different, at least. But I think they’ve already killed any heat he had. Renee-Kenny-MJF was short and to the point. Please let this be the end of the Adam Cole comedy segments. It was aggressively not funny. Callis has a ton of heat. Takeshita is getting lost in the shuffle. Hobbs has an interesting story to tell. Kyle Fletcher starting a face turn? Omega-Fletcher was great. I still think Fletcher is a future main eventer. Lance Archer isn’t for me, just have never cared. Nana-Swerve at least acknowledged the rich history of Third Coast rap. Sting retiring. Lol’d at Hogan getting booed. Jim Ross-Wayne family sit down was cringe. Battle Royale kinda sucked, but we did get Dustin doing a shattered dreams for money, and more JAS tension. I’m excited for MJF-Juice, it should be a Philly bloodbath. And I guess I get to see Omaha live too.

I like how Danielson is doing his random bucket list stuff while simultaneously being the stand-in for all of Tony’s leftover booking plans for Punk. It’s such a unique opportunity for him to have during his last full-time year.

Forgive the long post, I was sick this past week and I passed the time thinking about Wardlow and how he can be a successful heel. He's a bit of blank slate right now, he's semi-established but he has room to grow in this new role. The best heels represent something the audience hates and that can be difficult to pull off in the post-kayfabe era. WWE tackled it by making Vince and the company itself meta-heels so fans got invested not just in the babyface but whether WWE will 'let' the babyface win. This is how Danielson could get over as a face but Roman couldn't and we've seen the technique repeated a few times since, most recently in the stop/start rise of LA Knight In AEW it's the opposite, the most effective heels play on the audience's positive investment in the company and the community, like MJF threatening to go to WWE or Jericho becoming the personification of sports entertainment. The key is to use real life without breaking the fourth wall so I asked myself what are some central aspects of AEW that Wardlow could position himself in opposition to while staying in kayfabe? First things that come to mind are 'people being friends' and 'great matches'. Being a lone wolf who scoffs at people who need help (as in friends or family) is easy enough, the second one is a little harder to integrate. Sure, he could interrupt other people's matches but it would need to be more than that, he needs to kill people's dreams The past 3 Wardlow squashes haven't been the most exciting but they have corrected an issue he had of spamming powerbombs and reducing their effect. Now, one powerbomb can knock someone out and it doesn't matter how hard the opponent fights, it's happening. That's a great reset on a finisher and if played right it makes Wardlow into somewhat of a handsome Jason Voorhees. Whatever the next step is for Wardlow it should be an escalation from there. His goal is MJF but the champ is busy so who can be fed to Wardlow and is established enough for fans to care? At the moment, there aren't a lot of options. Jericho, Omega, and Adam Page are busy trying to cement other heels while Orange Cassidy and Eddie Kingston are just starting reigns with titles Wardlow should not be winning (and I assume people would be opposed to devaluing those titles by having Wardlow wallop the champion and throw the belt in the trash, I don't). That leaves Moxley and Danielson. I'm not sure I would trust Wardlow's career to Mox's selling ability which means, as usual, it falls to the American Dragon. If anyone can get a heel over, Bryan can Anyway, Wardlow only has a few shots left with the AEW audience, hope he can maximize them

Spoilered for enormity

Okada Smokada. I'm excited we finally get to see Danielson match up against Cassidy.

I was really looking forward to seeing FTR beat up two of the guys from the Key & Peele “football player names” sketch, but HOB coming back was good, too.

My favorites aside from Robocop was him telling Tony and Kelly "You want to keep your wives in the house, you guys leave", then later referencing Long John Silver and threatening to reference Long DONG Silver. I'm usually not a big fan of his work but this was solid stuff.

I know it’s not in fashion to lament his absence, but seeing FTR vs HOB really makes me miss him.

For all the shit that AEW gets, it's all absolved by the fact that Big Bill and Jeff Jarrett are currently appointment viewing.

On one hand, I know, they haven't played anybody. On the other, Michigan is the first team in 30 years, and third in the AP poll era, to have scored at least 325 points and given up 50 or less in their first 8 games. (Michigan is at exactly 325 scored and 47 allowed.) I think it's this weird state where both things are true about Michigan. They haven't played anybody yet, but they are also beating their weak schedule at a historic level. 8 straight 30+ scored, 10 or less allowed games. Pretty much every statistical and productive model has them as the best team in the country so far. Etc. It can and is absolutely true that Michigan both has serious questions about quality of opposition and look like the best team in the country so far this year.

Yeah I like Silver and Reynolds a lot as a tag team, good contrast and have that awesome finishing series. And that should be a fun combo, wonder if the low center of gravity and strength will benefit Silver against the various throws.

Myles Garrett might be pretty good.

House of Black vs everybody. Yes please.

If I had Tony Khan money, I'd bring out a giant crate, but in the giant crate is a giant bottle containing the other Sting wearing Surfer Sting facepaint singing Message In A Bottle. More money is then thrown at the lead guitarist from U2 to set up a copyright avoiding rock n wrestling tag match. Sting and Sting vs The Edge and Edge is what you all want.

Somebody coming out of a box? I like Willow being the Brody King of Julia's all female HOB (that makes Dark Skye Buddy?) Also Cool Hand and Ruby interaction made me realize Ange is totally a sick Boy

I'm all in on a BCC/HOB feud. Black showing up out there to beat down Danielson was good enough, but them showing back up throughout the show to seemingly start a program with them and/or FTR. The only thing I didn't like was that the heels should have stood tall at the end to make us anticipate the faces trying to get their revenge, but I guess they needed to set up the bit with Moxley and Cassidy. I also thought it was kind of out of character for HOB to ally with Starks and Bill instead of taking them out as well. Speaking of Starks and Bill, they were really shining in the tag match. I'd always written Bill off as a stiff, but he's really put it together as of late. I like how no matter how hard Claudio and Yuta battled back, Bill was just too big and Starks was just too crafty for them. It's good to see Miro back, but I think he should have won quicker and more decisively. Eddie's promo in the back was the best part about that whole match and segment. Willow/Statlander was probably my favorite match of the night. Both of them looked great here, even if that avalanche DVD was a bit much to kick out of. I'm really glad it looks like they aren't turning Willow heel as well as everything about her just has natural face energy.

Okay, to save time, I will try to keep this to bullet points. - Dragon needs to avoid people trying to double stomp him, please. Andrade, put on your old mask again instead, please. - Nigel (who is ON as a heel commentator tonight) thinks Tony's present for Sting will be Robocop. I think it's gonna be a belt with Sting's face on it. - Eddie vs. Jarrett's entire crew (Jarrett's Army? House of Jarrett? The Jeff Jarrett Appreciation Society?) hopefully made up for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, if anyone is still PO'd about that one. We got ketchup, mustard, blood, barbed wire, trash cans up the wazoo and the infamous lead roll of X-mas paper. I was thoroughly entertained. Later, Eddie gives a promo so good the medic is about to cheese out the whole time. Me too lady! - House of Black is back. FTR is back. Moxley is back. MIRO FUCKING MIRO is back for my edification and enjoyment, and has a nice longish match with Andretti even though you think it'll be a squash. He's still got his heat, baby! My boy Tony Nese also shows up to get destroyed by Joe who tells MJF to GIVE ME WHAT I WANT! (TM Batista) - The jobbers tonight included two guys who did the Time Warp straight from 1986 and a dude who had a high top fade with Hogan-style dyed blonde mustache in his beard (?!?!). In better fashion looks, Skye Blue had some rad half-leather, half-denim pants. - Poor Ricky took so much abuse he probably feels like a bowl full of jelly or mashed potatoes or something right now. - Willow and Kris show up next to last and give what may have been the match of the night. The only move bigger than the enormous Thunder Fiyah Powerbomb from Bill earlier is the insane Avalanche DVD from Willow to Kris. Woof! The irritant squad of the Acclaimed and poor ex-JAS couldn't top that. STILL no giant blow-up. *sigh* That was a hell of a night of wrestling. I'm spent... just like Natural is after hearing about the Okada match, I'm sure

I thought Collision was a good show tonight. Forgot about B.O.T.B's till they mentioned it in the first hour. Bryan vs. Andrade was pretty good. I liked the flash pin ending and then after a minute the lights go out and it's Malkai Black. Oh that match with him and Bryan is gonna rule. It was nice to see The House of black all over the show tonight. Later in the night I cracked up at Nigel saying Bryan had a broken wrist and like a coward got surgery unlike Brody King who just has a cast. Nigel was on fire all night especially with his love and praise of Jeff Jarrett. Eddie Kingston vs. Jarrett was so much fun. I still wish it was leading to a Jarrett ROH Title run, but we got a money promo from Eddie later in the night. Man I love when Eddie gets all personal like he did tonight. FTR get beat up by House of Black. That should be a fun feud. BIG BILL/Ricky Starkz vs. Claudio and Yuta was a damn good tag match. Big Bill continues to improve so much each week. Again at the end we get House of Black. So we're also getting a House of Black vs. BCC feud as well. I loved the ending with Claudio swinging Ricky forever and ever. Battle of the Belts started with a shoving match between Orange Cassidy and Jon Moxley and the rest of the BCC. I hope we get that Mox/Cassidy rematch. Silver/Cassidy was all right. Typical OC match at this point. Joe/Neese was a fun little squash. Statlander vs. Willow was a good match. I liked seeing the edgy side of Willow with her doing some heelish things. Kris gets a good victory and try's some sportsmanship with Willow only for Skye Blue to say no. But Willow is pure and good so she shakes her hand anyway. Final match was the Trio's tag and it was all right. Typical Acclaimed/Daddy Ass match at this point. Loved Garcia snapping and finally doing his dance only for it to cost him in the end. Overall a good night of stuff. I liked where they are going with the house of black tonight.

This reminds me of when it was explained to me how little the youngs care for or appreciate Looney Toons. Stuff that felt omnipresent when I was younger just disappearing from culture. I feel ancient.

Socks are the best gift.

THOUGH IT FOREVER BE TNA

Excellent, enjoyable, entertaining three hours of wrestling there today. And, plenty more on the way! What does everyone figure Tony K's big gift for Sting is gonna be? I guess: Socks.

10 miles, personal best. Suffering from runner’s nipple halfway through but pushed on.

It was basically a modern CMLL title match on AEW TV. Maybe the balance could have been a little different and been even more genuine (shorter segunda; more near falls and laying around -these are not necessarily a good thing) but I can’t think of any match on US tv ever that tried to do what this match did.

I think the logic of what lucha broke through in the US, at least in the 90s, was that the matwork guys weren’t gonna pop eyeballs but the highspots guys would. Either because American fans didn’t care about matwork or because our promotions already had guys that we considered matwork guys. Sorta like how some Japanese baseball players don’t break through to the American majors because they don’t have plus-velo or power despite being fundamentally good. Or how most of the American players that end up in NPB are power dudes filling a void in a Japanese team’s lineup. Matwork might be a little more over these days than the late 90s.

Few things better in life than Menard's weekly effort to get Renee to break in interviews.

The problem with the perception of lucha today is that it’s Kommander or Vikingo hitting a billion spots with the only thought going into how long it takes to set them up. Rocky v Mistico was great, the most authentic lucha presentation on US tv I can recall in years. If slow means letting the match breathe, sign me up, this was the lucha I love.

@Gordlow, that was Daniel Bryan. Different dude.

I'd be happy with Rampage being a matchup of international talents doing wrestling for the sake of wrestling, main evented by the women, with the occasional squash in there. This was pretty much what I want out of rampage every week that is realistic.

She's out of surgery and in recovery. Surgeon removed "an impressive amount" of disc material that was "basically wrapped around her nerve", hence the ridiculous pain she's been experiencing. I am very relieved.

Shida/Soho was announced on Collision but not the opponents for RVD/Hook, we were just told IN ACTION! That should be a fun tag match, Silver/Hook is the matchup I'm most excited to see out of all combinations.

No!!! Where is my beloved Promo Montage to open Collision!?! C’mon Saturday Crew, don’t cut corners. Andrade v Danielson was as fanfuckintastic as expected. I can get down with a Malakai Black v Danielson bout. Nice Darby Promo. Solid Dark Skye v Haley J bout. Outrunners v Gunns was fine. Statlander promo was amusing. Lexi is consistently a good sport. I probably should have expected a 'WWE Hardcore' style bout for Kingston v Jarrett. Perhaps my lofty expectations are to blame for not being into this. Or it kinda fucking sucked. I wonder if anybody in Creative considered having Eddie beaten by 5 ppl with no assistance might make him look like he has no friends. Fucking lame, but again I should’ve expected as much. Setting up 'hilarious' weapons around the ring for a match is one of the absolute shittiest wrestling tropes. Still, great to see Dave Brown! Acclaimed promo was fine. Miro v Andretti was solid for what it was. Love to see more of the ROH crew in competitive squashes rather than the local enhancement ‘In Action’ bullshit. JAS/Ruby promo was solid. Strange interaction between Ruby and Ange. I dug this like one after the other local promos from the bygone era. Rush promo was okay, but let’s get him back in the ring already. Eddie Kingston promo was awesome. Could’ve done without the ‘smirking, am I on camera’ staff person. FTR squash without a finish? Why not book an actual team not to lose or have FTR get the victory first? Weak. I’m down for this HOB v FTR feud. That said --- these lights out spots consistently need better timing, less of the lights out portion and less awkward aftermath posing. Starks/Bill v Wheeler/Claudio was fine. With all the terrific teams in this company Bill/Starks as Champions need to do more than they served here. One of the weaker Collision Main Events in awhile. Fun Moxley return tho. The anarchy to close the show was going pretty well until Starks returned to the ring to make himself look like a fucking idiot! What happened there? Orange v Silver was solid. Having Silver/Sabian/Isaiah battle for the number 1 contenders position makes the International title feel uh less than special. Loved Orange shouldering Mox during his entrance. I really wish AEW would stop killing Weapons shots with meaningless shit like Reynolds knocking Orange silly for a Silver 2. Nobody was ever buying John Silver winning this match. Andrade promo was his regular doofus hilarity. I love love love losers of big matches or angles getting mic time later. It’s a small but effective thing. Joe v Nese and the post promo were fine. Statlander v Willow was pretty solid. I hate seeing Willow lose here. She should be protected like Hulkamania 84-86 right now. Why on earth would you not go with the hot hand!?! Athena too! This division is not deep enough to book them away from their deserved spotlights. Further, Willow has a perfect babyface connection with the crowd. There isn't a better pure babyface in wrestling. And yet they wanna book her as a heel or tweener? Is there any possibility that Vince McMahon is booking the AEW Women’s Division? Excellent Orange promo. Fuck yes - Okada/Orange v Claudio/Danielson! Acclaimed v JAS was fine I guess. However many days in they now are, I have no interest in watching Dad Ass wrestle ever again. Are the Penta haters seeing the degree of Scissor Spam this bunch are giving us each time out? I remember some time ago when the Trios titles matches were thrilling and something to get excited about. Been awhile. Digging the MJF/Max storyline, but enough of this Sports Entertainment Sideshow act as Trios Champions. Also, no more sleeping on the Daniel Garcia push. Some weak shit here and there, but still lots of fun to be had.

Forever Black, and I got it. Half Past Human EP from 2021 is stellar too, and the Witch's Game EP which I unfortunately don't have a copy of. I need to get that before prices go through the roof. All I don't have of theirs is the live album from a couple years back, odds and ends like the box set, and a copy of the Servants of Chaos comp which has some awesome demo stuff on it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkauX9q_N4Y&ab_channel=CirithUngol-Topic This version of "100 MPH" smokes the later one, btw. D-Beat for the win! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUhIKquwEo0&ab_channel=CirithUngol-Topic

Can Washington bring back Jim Zorn to be HC? At the very least he could make losses entertaining.

I know what you meant to say but that really is what it felt like.

Sorry to read this, pal. Best wishes xxx.

Get well soon.

Bryan Danielson vs. Konosuke Takeshita. AEW Dynamite, 11th January. Bryan Danielson vs. Bandido. AEW Dynamite, 18th January. Bryan Danielson vs. Timothy Thatcher. AEW Dynamite, 1st February. Bryan Danielson vs. Rush. AEW Dynamite, 8th February. Bryan Danielson vs. MJF. AEW Revolution, 5th March. *****. Anarchy in the Arena. AEW Double or Nothing, 28th May. Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada. AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, 25th June. Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks. AEW All Out, 3rd September. *****. Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks. AEW Collison, 23rd September. Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. AEW WrestleDream, 1st October. *****. The MOTY. Bryan Danielson vs. Christian Cage. AEW Collison, 14th October. Bryan Danielson vs. Andrade El Idolo. AEW Collison, 21st October. What a year for Bryan Danielson and this Wednesday he teams with Claudio Castagnoli vs. Kazuchika Okada and Orange Cassidy on AEW Dynamite next week. Get in!

This would have been June 1993. There was a ton of turnover on the WWF roster so they would have been either done with WWF or finishing up with WWF. Hence, why they're doing a shot on some show in Australia. https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=56657

Mistico v Romero gave good reason to check this show out. The hype was going to be difficult to live up to, but it was a nice solid bout. Eddie Kingston/Jay Lethal/Jarrett/etc Promo was excellent. Maybe the highlight of the show. Strange production angle made Kingston look like a Giant. Stoked for Kingston v Jarrett. I skimmed Kip Sabian v John Silver v Isaiah Kassidy. Enhancement talent batting it out for a title shot and the follow-up BOTB title fight are Whack Ass Dogshit booking. Terrible. Please do better AEW. Santana-Ortiz video was fine. It'd be nice to have one measley reason I could believe Ortiz might win. Bucks/Page promo was fine. I just couldn't muster enough interest in Skye Blue v Ruby to not skip to the end. Ugh, there I see Saraya completely miss Skye on the interference before another shit finish. Feel the Heat! Rampage baby! Oh man, so stoked for Andrade v Danielson! Fucking awesome!

the full version of Midnights vs Koloff/Windham that I reviewed above was aired on NWA Pro on the same day and it's online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPJMySTJtMY

BazBall BazBombed. And say it with me... "England in Shambles...."

While quoting the first few lines of an old gospel hymn.

"those matches were Daniel Bryan vs Andrade Almas, this match is the first ever match between Bryan Danielson and Andrade El Idolo"

Seems like women getting the main event match on Rampage has quietly become SOP, and that seems like a good decision. Seems like fuck finishes in the main events is also a thing now... I am less happy about that, personally. Rocky vs Mistico 2 outa 3 falls makes me extraordinarily happy just by existing. Orange's match tomorrow will be fun, for sure. Also, it will determine once and for all which is the superior colour Claudio & Wheeler really work well as a tandem now. That was a groovy showcase of their teamwork. Three more fun hours coming up tomorrow! Also, elsewhere, Ospreay vs Josh, Kento vs Aoyagi... I heard WALTER vs Jonah was really good... It's a non-stop river of excellent match-ups. Literally too much fun. Yikes! I am sure Bryan vs Andrade will be excellent... But... Didn't it already happen in WWE? I think that, technically, disqualifies it from "Dream Match" status, but I am willing to listen to arguments to the contrary. Did Tony K actually announce it? I somehow missed it if he did. (Edit: He was even wearing Seahawks-coloured gear for their match! That popped me). I worry sometimes that the neverending bounty of this buffet is going to spoil us. So we'll churlishly complain about, let's say, Edge getting pushed over JD Drake or Dragon vs Idolo not being a *true* dream match or too many fuck finishes. Hey... It *could* happen!

Agree. That, and a different haircut.

I missed Dustin, Archer, Wardlow's old haircut, Miro, Danhausen... well, we only got Miro in a screencap but at least he's showing up later. It's unreal how much heat Callis gets. Unfortunately our buddy Lard Lad is relegated to standing there like a bump on a log while Don and Hobbs soak up the boos. I mean, he's cool as a cucumber but give him something to do! It's also unreal how athletic Omega is. Springing up to the top for that Orihara moonsault was so fluid and effortless. I'm not a big Omega guy in general but that was a fine movez match. Fletcher does look all of 12 years old though. And speaking of underage, WHOA did Nick Wayne eat shit last night! That was nasty. Amusing that Hogan got booed but Flair didn't; you'd think more fans had seen the Plane Ride from Hell episode of Dark Side of the Ring. EDIT: Oh and Buff Bagwell getting name-dropped to no reaction was hilarious Didn't know him and Sting were so buddy-buddy. Flexi-Lexy was a bit of a surprise too but they had a lot of history.

Stuff I remember: -God help me, I loved Penta being the most Penta he could possibly be. It helps when the crowd is really into his bullshit. And they are way into it; Tony missed a trick by not sticking more luchadors on the card. I don't think Jay White has a lot of great control stuff but I do enjoy all his sneaky little cutoff spots. They transitioned away from the quarters thing with MJF very elegantly. -If there's one thing Emi Sakura is going to do it's lean way the fuck into her opponent's offense. The knee strike counter to the crossbody in the corner was great and painful looking. -I spent most of Omega/Fletcher on my phone but it seemed like a fine sprint. Fletcher has a really nice leg lariat. -Archer getting announced as "now kicking his opponent to the ring" was great. Love it when a guy shows up because it was driving distance from his house. -They've gone way past the joke with the Toni Storm stuff. -Even by AEW standards that was a lackluster battle royal. I am more invested in the implosion of the not-JAS than whatever else was going on. E: Also invested into Trent and Dustin hugging, can't forget about that.