Just Dave

@Niners Fan in CT will be here any second to tell you why it’s ok that that happened because it’s Mercedes…

That's fair. It kills my suspension of disbelief, I guess. And it's not about size, per se. Bryan Danielson is one of my favorite wrestlers of all time, and he's small. I love watching Komander and Swerve and a lot of those guys you mentioned. Maybe I don't do a good job of explaining it. It has much more to do with how they wrestle relative to their style. That's my issue with Cole, in particular. If he worked as a chickenshit heel who connived his way to victory and hid behind his friends until the right moment, I'd get it. I still wouldn't enjoy him, but I'd get it. It's these guys who are small and work big. Cole is the worst culprit. With Best Friends, I just don't understand the appeal. I like Orange Cassidy. Trent and Chuck are just the definition of "there." Maybe it's just Chuck, because I don't mind Rappongi Vice at all. Listen, I'll be the first one to tell you I've got hang-ups about shit. I think it's garbage when a guy like Adam Cole gets to stare down Karrion Kross without consequence, because it's not based in reality at all. I don't like when the Jacksons get to saunter away from a match against Mox and Kingston, because it's not based in reality at all. "Worked" doesn't mean "free of the laws of physics." If that doesn't bother y'all, more power to you. It bugs the shit out of me.

@octopus Thanks for the excuse to watch that street fight again...

I'm not sure how we arrived there. There's not a single imposing or intimidating thing about the Best Friends, and I believe their importance to AEW, with the exception of Orange Cassidy, is vastly overestimated. If that means I want to fuck Miro... I could do a lot worse, I guess.

I don't know that I believe those three guys could take Miro out, but your point is taken. Them beating P&P straight up in a parking lot fight felt pretty egregious to me. I don't think Santana & Ortiz ever recovered from that.

Also, the irony of Mercedes being upset w Willow for injuring her isn’t lost on me, seeing as how Ms. Mone herself has injured not opponents than prime Joe Frazier…

Yeah, but that’s backstage friendship. Like, that’s the Jackson’s getting to say “our friend Tony Khan says you have to make our bullshit offense look killer.” I’m talking about onscreen friendship. Like, there’s no real friendship powerful enough to keep Chuck Taylor from being murdered by Miro.

No. Best Friends don’t do much for me. I’m not a fan of all the “winning through the power of friendship.” They should’ve lost the first Parking Lot Fight, Arcade Anarchy, and at All In 2023, but hugs & minivans, right?

Anticipating a Trent heel turn.

They're probably calling those under-brackets "wild cards" because that's what they call the play-in opening rounds in baseball. But yeah, it makes zero sense for HOB to be in those brackets, especially since they should probably win this whole thing. I'm baffled by the lack of Mox/Claudio, unless there's an injury or Mox finally getting to take his vacation...

I think @Technico Support said it, and he’s right; I’ve said for years that there’s nothing about Mercedes that comes off as real. From nXt to main roster and now early on in AEW, she’s playing a role. And not particularly convincingly. Another thing I’ve said for a couple years now; the young bucks repel viewers. Down 350k from the opener? Holy hell. The people stayed away in droves.

Lol. Ass Juice.

It feels like Uncle Tony is back in his bag. Just a ton of fresh, intriguing matchups on the way. Excited for Jay White's next thing. The Acclaimed really should've seen that coming, seeing as how they have tons of history with the Ass Boys. Hopefully now they get to end their freestyles with "Ass Boys!" Those were the best ones. BCG needs a heater, at least until Juice gets back. Here's a sentence I never thought anyone would utter; goddam do I miss Juice Robinson. Wardlow and Joe was a fun big man sprint. Something tells me they're gonna run that back at some point. Joe is doing the Lord's work right now. Love that dude. That six man was dope. I like that the shitty EVP's have aligned themselves with the new ace so they don't have to do the work themselves. I hadn't seen much Okada before but damn I've enjoyed what I've seen so far. I'm a Willow Nightingale fan. Unabashedly. She seems like a truly lovely human. Happy for her to get the increased profile working with Mercedes.

As far as sing along themes go, I hate the "Boom!" in Adam Cole's but love the "C-E-O!" in Mercedes'. I think they're both the product of hype and an irrational fondness for early nXt, but one of them irritates me much more than the other. The difference is I think tafka Sasha could get over without all that stuff and Adam Cole would be opening regional indy cards if it weren't for the multiple theme songs designed specifically to get him over.

Swerve beat up some security, too.

IT could be that it's been so long since I've seen him wrestle as a single that I just don't remember. I do really, really like Bowens. The Acclaimed are just so great together that I might not want to think about splitting them up.

Yeah, getting the Acclaimed back to what they were a couple years ago would be awesome, but I don’t see any real path forward for either guy as a single. I’d love to see them in the tag team tournament, though…

The presence of Okada & the 3 guys on the other team cancel out the Jackson’s for me. Rage rooms are dope, though. I’m fully expecting some shenanigans. A heel turn from PAC or something. I would like to see the Bucks turn up the stooging in their work. One of my biggest issues with them is their inability to vary their work at all based on their character. Same w Omega & Cole & a lot of those pwg/ROH guys. “Getting their shit in” is what matters most to them, storytelling be damned.

Nope.

Oh yeah, if Steph knew, Trips knew. It feels like Nick Khan's involvement might mean that there isn't the "house cleaning" I was anticipating...

To me, the head fake would be to bring Kamille out, have her turn on Deonna, and have Mercedes make the save. You get to stack your women's division even more. AEW has a chance to do something really cool with their women, and adding unique looks like Kamille and Mercedes would really help. I know Kamille isn't exactly "outside the box" in terms of her aesthetic, but she's tall. Like, she'd tower over the women. WWE's women are getting cookie cutter again. I can't tell a Fallon Henley from a Tatum Paxley. Or a Maxine Dupri from a Tiffany Stratton. Kamille being Toni's "new toy" that pushes Mariah further toward turning on her is the way to go, I think.

Kamille, but she turns on Deonna.

Fwiw, Miro is a pretty notorious shit stirrer on social media. Says stuff just to say it. Not to mention his wife might be losing a hand...

Miro signed an extension. That’s the insane part.

Jesus, really? I retract my statement, then. Fire them both lol.