JLowe

Ah, read HarryAG which reminded me I FFWD through the Ospreay-Richochet flashback and apparently missed something, and also through the Lance Archer segment, which missed nothing. But I did forget about the Mortos-Undisputed segment, which I truly loved. Mortos pulled that shit off remarkably, really they all did. I’m down for Stat-Kamille as a march but very out on “Born Again Kristen” which sounds like a backstage rib that was funny for about 10 seconds to 2 people.

The three way tag match was plodding, botched, overbooked, illogical nonsense. Dante gets tagged in an instead of pinning one of the two supine Private Party members he goes for a dive on HoB. Quen fucked up Gin and Juice visibly twice. Silly String took 20 seconds to complete with Dante having to stand around like a dipshit. House of Black are way more interesting, and better, as solo wrestlers. I’d say Top Flight should consider looking elsewhere for a push, but the completion doesn’t push black male wrestlers. For fucks sake, at least let them hold the worthless ROH titles that they were booked to win when Dante torched his leg. Trish Adora is a work in progress. Willow made her look like a billion bucks and probably made herself look weaker by doing so. I was excited about Willow-Mariah but I don’t see a world where Britt lays down for Willow. My guess is Mariah interferes and we get a 3-way at Wrestledream where Willow does the job so Mariah can retain. Conglomeration are great but need a purpose other then constantly having to deal with the Premier Athletes. Outrunners-GYV was great older school tag team wrestling. Truth Magnum sold the knee better than 80% of the roster. They’re more than just a meme. Also loved the video package, fun to see FTR poking holes in the “take it too seriously” reputation. ”Lucha” 4-way had some of the more interesting Andretti stuff I’ve seen recently, but was of course highlighted by Hologram and Komander. They need to just let them cook. Yuta”s segment with Claudio was so fucking good, did A TON to advance a confusing storyline. Match was short and fun, with him once again unleashing his inner demons only to feel some regret after. Suspect that won’t be an issue soon. I’ve come around on Johnny TV, he’s the kind of guy they really need. A veteran hand who can bump and sell, wrestle any kind of match, get in some impressive stuff but always make his opponent look better, knows when to slow down. Darby was Darby. The post-match also did a lot to advance the Mox storyline…he and Mox are two sides of the same coin apparently. I am going to love seeing Brody on Darcy violence again. Finally, EMI IS BACK!! My highness has returned!!! Wish we had one match before she jobs to Mercedes.

I haven’t watched Collision yet but, to be fair, it was FTR having a long, competitive, giving match with The Outrunners that helped get them over as more than just a meme act.

I’m late to talk about Rampage. It was pretty good. I still think Private Party as a concept is washed because Quen is gonna break his neck botching the Gin and Juice one of these days. It also helps that Bucks are same height or shorter, making the jumps lower. I liked the touch of Shibata just targeting Perry every time he had a chance, and him hiding behind the Bucks. Kamille killed that poor enhancement woman. Stat is I guess turning face. Angle had hit a dead end, and I guess I appreciate they tried to tie it up. Targeting Kamille should be a good hoss fight. Harley is really showing a lot of personality on the promos and in the ring. I think she was still around towards the end of Dark/Elevation, I think maybe even did one or two matches there. She would benefit from regular ring work, as she’s getting better but still hesitates and moves slow. Still, this might have been her best match. Nice to see Baker save Aminata, I guess I was overthinking the Dynamite deal. Main was good, how could it not be?

I got really excited about it last night while a little buzzed and can confirm it’s not there.

I enjoyed the show overall, and the things I didn’t like are pretty much the things I haven’t been liking for a while now (Perry and the Private Party push being the main ones here). My exposure to Ricochet has been his AEW matches, and my exposure to Ospreay has been AEW plus maybe once or twice in very late ‘10s New Japan TV. I saw a lot of crazy things in that match that were an amazing spectacle of balance, acrobatics, and timing (mostly). Mirror spots are getting very old to me but I enjoyed the rope handspring hero pose deal. The story was two guys trying to prove to each other that they’re better now than they were in 2016 while mostly doing that 2026 match as I understand it. Anyway, fun match with no stakes beyond the Callis family storyline. The double pin was frustrating to me because there was a match with Mortos a few weeks back where the ref didn’t count a pin because Mortos wasn’t making a full effort for a cover (or something like that), and in this case only one of the men was actively trying for a pin fall. Finally, so much for my “turning Takeshita face” dreams. Britt is washed, there is something psychological going on. She just seems lost, forgetting relatively simple wrestling 101 things. Her effort on some moves and strikes was comically bad, like Orange Cassidy but supposedly actually trying. Deeb tried valiantly to carry, and it mostly worked. Someone here pointed out how Britt repeatedly blew off Aminata after the save, which bothered me at the time. The pre-match Page-Juice brawl was a fun mix of big bumps and comedy work. Hard for me to take Juice too seriously when it looks like he’s wrestling in Hanes briefs. The cannonball barrier spot was the highlight of the match. Jay White making the save was a little predictable (but welcome), and I had totally forgotten about Chekov’s table from the crowd brawl! Willow/Mariah backstage was great and I’m looking forward to that. Have to admit, I was really into the idea of Okada doing Memphis-style stalling and stooging. Instead, we get a pretty straight-forward match where it’s not just Okada trying to run out the 20-minute clock. These guys work together really well, stiff, great timing, really convincing reversals. The backslide clean pin was a huge shock for me. other stuff I remember was a pretty solid filmed promo from Darby, Mone and MVP, MVP and a very large Shelton Benjamin, the Gunns making no sense before being cannon fodder, Christie-Ann Cage saying something. Marina saying something. Renee had to dodge a lot of physicality backstage.

Saw that someone from WBD implied that the AEW archive will also be available on MAX.

I thought AEW was doomed and would not ever have another TV deal close to what they had originally…

Ha I realized while I was out grocery shopping that I also forgot about Perry-Suzuki. Murder Grandpa treated him with kid gloves, and Perry clearly was not going to poke the bear. The TNT title angle is an utter failure and the sooner they metaphorically sacrifice the scapegoat the better.

I forgot about Sammy-Okada, which says a lot about how memorable the match was.

I had had quite a few beers by the time I watched Collision. I liked the Saraya-Hayter match in that it was funny and also reminded you that Hayter is strong and tough. Now, where do we go from here? How can they thread a needle with revenge on Toni Storm, who is not the same person she was. Neither trios match did much for me, other than enjoying the Conglomeration in general and advancing the story with Yuta. Is this where the Righteous got involved? Komander barely got involved, which probably protected him. The lucha three-way was crazy and fun. The dipshit Bully Ray fan who always sits in the front row of east coast shows was making sour faces and crossing his arms the whole time. Fuck that guy. Honestly, the larger crowd never really got into this as much as I think they should have, presumably they were tired after 4+ hours. MxM fucking kills me, I love them even though it’s definitely heavy sports entertainment. Even though it was obvious in retrospect, it took me a few minutes to recognize Billy Gunn was Hans, but I did figure it out before he unmasked. The main dragged a lot. Biggest moments were Jarrett from the top to the floor, and the beating Hangman took towards the end. Juice looked like he was wearing tighty whities. Overall, Collision was ok, definitely not something like a big event show.

To add to what I said above about The Acclaimed, “Nut Up or Shut Up” is flopping, as it should. I know it’s got to be hard when you’ve been moving merch and making $$$$ for two years now but they need a hard reboot.

So, Rampage was pretty good. It seems they’re already abandoning the ill-advised Top Flight rebrand. Wearing “bombardier” jackets instead of the commercial pilots uniforms. Andretti and Rush squabbling (I’m team Lio here, I think he’s loads more interesting than Andretti although I don’t want either as a part of Top Flight). Perfectly fine match with a couple of spots that took too long to develop. Anna Jay is back! She forgets to shout out Dark Order, those guys get no respect! What did she learn in Japan? To fight a little more stiff it seems, and a Gory Bomb finisher. Maybe the shotgun dropkick although I think she was already using it. Her intro music has a hyper pop beat now. Robyn Renegade has basically been on AEW since her actual in-ring debut and has gotten markedly better. I know they give her a lot more on ROH, and they’ve let her have more offense on AEW TV, but would like to see her have a little push. Its Takeshita! Tony has to explain why he’s getting cheers because he’s still ostensibly a heel. It’s Angelico, who the crowd is clearly supposed to know his history and that he is a name talent who will be competitive. Anyway, this should’ve been a 3-4 minute squash. The crowd was very into Takeshita, clapping to build his comebacks, popping for his moves. I think they need to break up the Callis family and let these guys develop real personality. It’s The Acclaimed! Max makes a very predictable rap. Wrong Springfield, bro. Fancy Clancy looks and carries himself like a young William Regal and I kind of want them to bring him back and lean into that. Acclaimed wrestle a little more aggressively, less pandering (no Scissor me Timbers), and I think that’s good if they’re going to turn them heel (which they should). After, they let Max call MxM “pansies” even though it’s not a live mic which is pretty shitty even if it’s meant to be a heel move. I hope Bowens slapped the shit out of him backstage. MxM are the clear faces here. Main event time, and Willow is incredibly over! Good lord do I hate Taya’s intro music. Best match of the night, lots of back and forth, both get to show their strength, Taya shows ring veteran savvy, Willow shows her fire.

I don’t just want them to get rid of the trios titles, I want them to cut back on the trios matches period. More traditional tag teams.

Totally agree.