Just Dave

I preface this by saying that WWE's presentation has never been less "for me" than it is currently. I don't give a fuck about moments. Having said that, I really thought this was fucking brutal. Other than Gunther/Sami, which ruled ass, there was not a single genuinely compelling moment on this show. Triple H might be better at diplomacy than his father in law, but the idea that "we will tell you how to feel" is as alive as ever in WWE. Becky/Rhea was okay. I don't have much feeling about either woman. Rhea is cool. Becky appears to be on her way out. Andrade/Rey vs. Santos/Dom was so counter-intuitive. It feels like Andrade was promised a prominent 'Mania spot as part of his WWE return. Wrong team went over. Carlito should've turned. Some cool moves, but again, no genuine emotion. Just being dictated to about what a big moment it was for Rey and Andrade. Santos Escobar deserves better. He's so fucking good and is stuck. Angel and Berto, too. Tag Team Ladder match was what it was. Theory and Waller are the embodiment of what's wrong w WWE today to me. Great look. Good athletes. Not one speck of realism. R-Truth getting a moment was cool. Maybe the only truly earned moment on the entire show. I tell a lie. Sami winning was cool, too, even thought this feels like a huge demotion from where he was last year. Great moment, though. Women's trio match was cookie cutter. Handful of badass entrances, though. Match did it's job, even if it was as vanilla is it gets. Main event was fucking dogshit. Just awful. Whoever laid this match out wanted it to feel epic so bad. Multiple staredowns to silence. An indecisive, dead crowd. Heavy handed, plodding, devoid of genuine emotion. It's not a good sign that Roman felt like a complete afterthought. I've always known Seth Rollins isn't a star, but holy hell did he disappear during this. This match could not have gone off worse than it did. That's not true. Everyone involved could've torn an ACL. Besides that, this was worst case scenario for Triple H. What's really galling is that there are Wweeboos in certain corner's of Beyonce's internet who will insist that Triple H was "cooking" and that this is "cinema." I'm gonna watch the 8 man tag from CMLL a couple weeks ago to cleanse my pallet from this generic, overproduced nonsense.

I mean, Cope is so goofily earnest that I'm kind of okay with his promo. He comes off like a dude that really loves pro wrestling, and I think he's earned the right as a 25 year veteran to express that. The Jay White booking seems.... sus. It does help that Billy is ginormous, and the size disparity somewhat explains Billy just whipping his ass. BCG really, REALLY needs Juice Robinson to come back. Hobbs/Ospreay was dope as hell. My GF called Don Callis "Evil Howie Mandel" and now I can't unsee it. Danielson/Archer was also dope. That match at Dynasty is gonna rule. Toni Storm is a national treasure. She popped me 3 or 4 times. I called it a night about 915. I watched the rest of the show this morning. The Jacksons are such unapologetic asswads that this gimmick change really works. I've never thought Best Friends were as important to AEW as some other folks around here, but that heel turn worked, and the crowd was hot for it, so kudos to them. They still should've lost Arcade Anarchy and the Parking Lot Fight against S & O. I'll die on that hill. That final segment was some wild shit. Swerve is a madman. Strap him up at Dynasty. Samoa Joe has been a noble, credible champion. Give him a few weeks off and then send him on a quest for revenge. Good show. With all the discourse regarding AEW's future this past week, they just need to keep having strong episodes like this.

For me, it's definitely the ascension of Swerve Strickland. Samoa Joe is doing a hell of a job as champ, but this is Swerve's time. It feels like they have to pull the trigger at Dynasty. Ospreay and Okada coming in have created a new world of fresh matches for the tv show. As much as I don't like the Bucks, sticking Okada with them was genius. Jay White is orbiting around the peripheral. I get the feeling they're waiting for Juice Robinson to come back to push Bullet Club to the forefront. The future of the company feels pretty solid to me, at least long term. They really, REALLY just need to get to the next TV deal. There are probably a dozen guys who could be a titleholder within six weeks if booked properly. If I had to pick one guy that I'm certain will just be an absolute stud, cornerstone, lottery pick guy, it's probably Takeshita. He's big, athletic, agile, handsome, and has become a really effective shitbag heel. Wheeler Yuta is another guy who's shown way more versatility than I thought he had. I enjoy the product jsut as much now as I ever have. I wish they'd get House of Black going to the tippy top, but you can't have everything.

Ahh. That makes sense. It's always been kind of a clue into CM Punk's psyche to me that Punk never publicly called Mox out after that interview Mox did. Someone reported that there was a tense moment in an airport between the two guys, but again; Punk doesn't pick fair fights.

Nah. Don't help your competition make their team better. BPJ didn't renew his deal. He wasn't let go early. Don't make it easy for Hunter. Just do a better job keeping some of the (alleged) malcontents in your tv rotation.

Just to break up all the Punk talk; I went back and watched the HOB/Elite trios title match from Revolution last year. A few thoughts; For guys who (allegedly) don't want to be there, Black and Matthews are in top form here. The pace is breathtaking and all the strikes are snug. Matthews takes a couple bumps that make me question his sanity. No one wanting to tag in against Brody King popped me. I wish they'd have played that up a bit more moving forward. He's a truly one of a kind animal. It occurs to me that The House of Black look exactly like the kind of people Papa Buck was hoping his precious sons would avoid by keeping them out of public school. The pagans took the church kids behind the movie theatre and whipped that ass. I still think the Jacksons are incapable of telling a story that involves anything other than sprinting from spot to spot. There were several times down the final stretch of this match where I thought the Elite guys were gonna inexplicably go over a stronger, more credible unit. You know, because they can. I've come around on Kenny as a worker. He held things together for his team. It's a shame he didn't get stateside full time five years before he did, but I have no doubt that WWE would've made him do a bunch of stupid shit. He's still kind of a dork, and his pretentious view of what wrestling is and isn't bugs me, but when he's between the ropes he's pretty special. I wish he'd cut down on the tap dancing and the full body "fighting spirit" shaking and stuff, but in big matches like these he's still pretty dope. It feels like AEW TV is getting ready to feature House of Black again. I'm hopeful Malakai gets a singles title and the two other guys get some accolades, too. Buddy Matthews has "Owen Cup Winner" written all over him, and I'd love for Brody to find his way into a big singles program too. I'd also love for them to hold the tag titles and defend them Freebird style.

The only reason BPJ is getting this treatment is to show less established AEW performers that they’ll be given a look in nXt. That dude is as mid as mid gets.

Could you clarify this a bit for me? I'm not seeking out conflict, I promise. I'm just not sure what you mean.

I don’t think there’s much to read into these releases. Just housekeeping.

You could always get two extras to do that…

Apparently he got hurt working an Indy…

Preston Vance changing his SIM card like Stringer Bell…

I have no idea what that has to do with anything, but I just googled it, and now I'm gonna order one, so thanks for that...

Stu Grayson released. Might be more.

Idk who that is. And it isn't a gimmick. I genuinely think it's funny that they caught a beatdown from the world's worst MMA fighter with a man advantage, and that every company they're a part of is made worse by their mere presence. If that bugs you, I'm sorry. That doesn't make them less lame.

Agreed with that last part. Like, I think it's hysterical that the Jacksons and Kenny caught an ass-beating with a man advantage, but there is no other industry on earth where anyone would expect those people to work together without serious accommodations...

Easy Stephenetico...

This video popped me. I have no idea how to post it, other than this. Copy and paste, i suppose.

I maintain no illusion that AEW, and the EVP's in particular, are blameless. I do wish TK would be more assertive at times with talent. I just can't imagine living life with the lack of self awareness Punk seems to have. That dude legitimately believes he's never done wrong in his life.

I’m taking Page in that fight. Philliam has never picked a fair fight in his life. If he really wanted a piece, he could’ve gotten one backstage any time…

I still think about that story Cody told about Punk proclaiming himself “locker room leader” and guys like Booker T and Randy Orton laughing in his face. There was the “what would harley race do” talking point when he did Colt’s podcast. Then there’s all the getting pissy about guys not taking his unsolicited advice. It’s no coincidence that he’s spending so much time at the PC now. That dude needs to believe he’s a cornerstone of the business. It’s not at all surprising that he can’t fathom that he might bear some responsibility for what happened at All In. I’m gonna take what he said about the events of that day with a grain of salt. Am I being willfully obtuse? Probably. It’s no secret I don’t like pretentious people. I think it says a lot about how Phragile Philliam is that the “diy punk rock” guy got so ass-hurt over AEW talent not wanting advice they didn’t ask for. This is a guy who says “if you have a problem, come find me,” then sucker punches someone who did exactly that. It’s all deep seeded insecurity hidden behind a thick veil of aloof arrogance. In this same Helwani interview he says it was all Nick Khan who made the decision to bring him in. If that’s true, it’s telling that no one in wwe who’d ever worked with him before reached out about working there. Fuck that dude. Fuck his self righteous bullshit, too…

I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t wondered that too…

So, I finally got to watch Cardona/Cope. I remember saying for years on this site that Zack Ryder had been in wwe for upwards of a decade and I still had no idea if he was a good worker or not. Idk if Cardona is a guy who’s just figured out what he is, but I didn’t think him capable of working a structured tv match like that. I’m very impressed. I hope this leads to him making more AEW appearances, as several folks (hawkins, jtg) have said in interviews that triple h just isn’t a fan and Cardona in this incarnation should be on tv regularly. As for Starks… I’m kind of over him. I still like him and want what’s best for his career, but at some point he has to, too. The same people that left him disgusted with his last pc tryout are running the whole company now, so if he really thinks it’s gonna go better bc his buddy Cody is there, maybe he needs to find out. House of Black rules ass. Put the tnt title on the Dark Father and belts on the other two.

He’s on my list of “next four guys to hold this belt.” I’d go Malakai/Briscoe/Takeshita. But that belt is in Takeshita’s future…

My only issue with HOB vs. Cope is that Malakai really shouldn’t be dropping falls ever and I’m not sure I see Cope losing the title yet.