just drew

Hasn't Aaron Solow suffered enough? Gets "mutual separation"-ed by Bayley and now you want him fired, too?

I thought they were gonna do the HBK/Diesel thing where the third time MJF hit Wardlow, big man was gonna orbit him. But then covid. Not a bad show. I think it’s funny that less than 72 hrs after a weekend of Twitter discourse about the lack of black male stars they’ve signed Lee Moriarty and had a feature spot for Hobbs & Martin. Good for all those guys, & I hope TK continues the course correction. I dig what Malakai Black is doing. He should’ve waited for Dustin to stagger to his feet & then kicked him again. That finish was bad. Real bad. Punk was serious about working the young guys, huh? Punk & Starks will rule ass. I love Ruby Soho. She seems so genuinely surprised at the welcome she’s gotten. When she was released, her former coworkers in wwe all had stories relating what a wonderful human she is. I’m happy for her to come in in this spot. This was the exact right amount of Young Bucks that any AEW show should have moving forward. Perfect. Looking forward to the big multi man in Arthur Ashe. that MJF segment was abhorrent. I’m sure everything was approved ahead of time, but it still felt icky. Glad for the VBlondes to get this opportunity against Wardlow & the Bucks. About 5 minutes after I thought to myself “damn, I guess the Pinnacle are done,” the Pinnacle get a win. Spears/Allin might be fun. Mox currently and will always rule ass.

Probably Ryder blowing his knee out after winning that battle royal where he and Rawley were gonna get a tag title shot and win the Smackdown tag titles. Arn Anderson said on his podcast that he was “finally gonna get his due” and then his knee exploded.

Kevin Nash wrestled the Undertaker March 31st 1996 at Wrestlemania and turned up June 10th on Nitro. That's not the main event, but they did try to sell Punk on that "wrestling Taker IS main eventing" horseshit, so I'm counting it.

The closest instance I can think of is Nash working Undertaker at Mania 13 March 31st 1996 and then showing up on Nitro June 10th. Hasn't happened often.

I think a lot of the crowding in the main event and upper midcard will kind of take care of itself. Someone pointed it out elsewhere, but Kenny Omega has made noise about wanting to take a long break, if not retire. CM Punk is 43 and as much as he says he wants to be there every week, his matches should be attractions. Bryan is a guy I could see going part-time. Jericho's about done. Even when Page, Cole and Black slide into those spots at the tippy top, you still have TV every single week. There's no reason for AEW to have all of the top talent on every single show, and that creates more TV slots. Whoever said Big Swole was one of the folks who could be on the chopping block; GTFO. That's nonsense. One thing I'd like to see AEW focus on moving forward is developing and featuring more African American male talent. When Cedric Alexander's contract is up, go get him. Keep developing Shawn Dean. Keep Will Hobbs on the trajectory he's on. I don't think it's been done on purpose, but the lack of black male main eventers isn't a great look and has become a real subject of discourse on twitter.

I find her getting in offense against Miro more palatable/believable than some of the things the EVP's have asked us to believe...

That's how loaded this show was. When it happened I was legit excited and by the time the show was over I had forgotten.

I have thoughts. That TNT Title match was fucking deluxe. Every beat hit perfectly. Eddie's gotta win a big one soon but Miro isn't done yet. I'd have been tempted to book a double countout but this worked better. Jon Moxley has declared a one man war on the island of Japan. Can't wait to see him tear down buildings with his bare hands like Godzilla. Oh shit. Hey, TK, get Blue Oyster Cult on the phone. There's no way those guys don't need he money. Women's title match slapped, but they've gotta stop putting young babyface women in this position. Red Velvet and Kris Statlander are great talents with incredibly high ceilings, but there's no way anyone's cheering them over Britt right now. And now, what I'm sure everyone has been waiting for... First of all, let me make perfectly clear that every time a Jackson brother gets dropped on his empty head, an angel gets its wings. Fuck them up their stupid asses. Having said that, the finish to that match was off the charts. The Lucha Brothers entrance was incredible, but it made me a little sad, as it reminds that I've never gotten to live my lifelong dream; being the giant dude in the back of someone's entourage in a rap video, mugging for the camera and nodding his head to the music. I was born to do that, yet I remain stillheaded. Anyway, great match. Lucha Brothers have earned that win, even though I suspect they won't keep those belts long. Women's battle royal was really good. It's crazy how far that roster has come in two years. They're ass deep with women who can go. And Rebel. Bless her. She tries hard, and there's a role for her on tv, but I'm not sure it's as a competitor. The right woman went over, though I might've been tempted to have Rosa and Ruby hit at the same time, leading to a three way match. Punk looked off by a step, but not seven years worth. It's like Joe Walsh said when the Eagles got back together in 1994. "Pass the Tullamore Dew." Wait, that's not the quote I want. He also said "it didn't sound like we hadn't played together in 14 years.... it sounded like we took a week off." Same deal here. Darby isn't my particular cup of tea, but he absolutely broke his assbone to make sure Punk looked great. Wight/Marshall was a thing that happened. Tafka Big Show is another performer who might be best served not doing much in ring. If I were him, I'd be trying to get Time Warner executives on the phone about reviving the Netflix show for HBOMax or TNT. Shit was funny. The main slapped. From the first lockup to all the damn funny business after. Tony Khan is a goddamned madman, and I mean that as a compliment of the highest order. Only and idiot would've booked all that postmatch, but Tony made it not just work, but fuck. That ending fucked. It fornicated on a Sunday and can now be arrested in several states. This AEW roster is a thing of beauty. TK should be selective moving forward, but if Bronson Reed, Windham, and the Iinspirations want jobs, I'm at the very least hearing them out if I'm him. What a glorious time to be a wrestling fan. Somewhere AJ Styles and Samoa Joe are screaming curse words into a dark void. Somewhere Vince McMahon is eating a steak wrap and wondering if that tiny guy from nXt is still considering the offer he made him. I'm assuming Vince won't actually find out Adam Cole is gone until he gets on facebook tomorrow looking for more dank "thanks Biden" memes and checks the news feed. Somewhere HHH is getting his resume ready. And somewhere Nick Khan is texting his cousin Tony on his burner phone, asking him what the payout is for getting Bayley and Finn Balor to defect next. God bless All Elite Wrestling. This shit is fun again.

I mean, if your competition is going to keep releasing quality talent, why wouldn’t you sign them? You cannot have too many great wrestlers.

I got to know Shannon a bit here in Atlanta in 2010-12. She was a wonderful, kind human being. I hope that she is resting well. Love you, Shan.

The Bucks aren’t intimidating. I don’t know why that’s a controversial opinion. They look like fucking dweebs who only stand out because of their opponents complete cooperation. It wouldn’t be such a big deal if they didn’t try to carry themselves as though they were the Steiner brothers. Yet so many folks seem to be willing to throw any reasonable standard of suspension of disbelief out the window when it comes to the Bucks because they do cool flippydoo shit in between not selling and shitty strikes. Also, it feels like anyone who says “are we still having the size argument in 2021” is just saying what all tiny people say. At the end of the day, it doesn’t feel possible to accept the young bucks as the characters they’re so desperately attempting to play without throwing every convention regarding what makes someone successful at athletics right out the window.

It’s nuts that AEW is at the point with their roster that they can just stash a Ricky Starks in their back pocket until they need him.

Thank you for proving my point far more effectively than I ever could have.

Recent evidence suggests otherwise. They’ve mowed through teams with such unrepentant aplomb that it stands to question whether they’ll truly take the satisfying ass beating that usually concludes runs like these. I think it’s also fair to ask why the young bucks should’ve been considered at the level that justifies a run of this length and dominance level. This shit should’ve ended swiftly at the hands of Mox & King, but instead the Bucks got their buggy whip arms raised in victory and strutted out of the arena like they’d just squashed two trainees on DARK. (i might not totally believe that last part. I just needed to use the phrase “buggy whip arms” to get Bingo on my Jim Cornette Bingo card.)

It would make me feel better if they hung out with arn and Tully offscreen and executive produced some shit instead of doing the same tired schtick that got wrestling cancelled on this network 20 years ago.

… that might be fair. Not that anyone needs to invent reasons to be pissy about those clowns, but it’s possible I’m not being reasonable about the Hangman thing. I might’ve had them tease something if I were booking, but I’d have also exiled the Bucks to DARK weeks ago, so maybe it’s for the best that I’m not.

The problem with that is that the nWo never got their comeuppance. They were just allowed to make everyone look like idiots until Vince bought the company. At this point I’m a bit skeptical that the same thing won’t happen here. Except Vince buying the company. That won’t happen.

What’s it called if I want them to get their asses kicked and then leave? What kind of heat is that?

Also, I want it noted for the record that I called the Anna Jay return last week. I guess Billy’s still mad about when Big Show laughed that time Edge called him “Billy Bitchcakes.” That ruled. The Gunn Club heel turn did not rule. Opening tag was really good, but I still think those 4 have a better match in them. Maybe best to let it sit a bit and come back to it when Cash is healed up. 2.0 makes me lol. They’ve slotted in so perfectly. Also, I have no idea where Daniel Garcia came from but it’s an indictment on wwe’s developmental system that AEW found him, signed him, and got him on tv in an effective role within six months while Vince is still deciding whether or not he can make money with fucking Keith Lee. Was kind of expecting Hangman Page to return at the end of the show, but that would’ve meant someone would’ve gotten over at the expense of the EVP’s, and we can’t have that. For all the bitching about Cody, at least he’ll show ass when the time comes.

Man, that show was actually really good until that post match beat down from the Elite. The basic problem remains the same; you have to be at least mildly physically threatening to pull off the characters the Bucks are trying to play, and they just aren’t threatening. Trying to play Hall & Nash when you’re the size of the Mulkey Brothers just doesn’t work. If me saying that bothers some of y’all, that’s fine, but the young bucks will never come off as dangerous or anything else other than the sum total of their backstage positions, and they make every show they’re on worse.

One of my favorite parts of “Come Hell or High Water” a couple years ago was watching Eddie Kingston do the choreography to “truly madly deeply” with them. Then he beat the shit out of them. It was dope.

I mean, "All Out" isn't just a clever name. Like the Shitty Beatles.

I guess I have a deep aversion to seeing mediocrity rewarded. In Charlotte’s case, there’s probably some deep disdain for nepotism in there, too. And I didn’t say Nia was right to drop Charlotte on her head. I think Nia’s a very rare, special combination of reckless and ignorant. I just completely understand why any/all of Charlotte’s co workers might not be in any hurry to suffer horseshit from her.