Iron Moose

Wasn't this Azeez turning on Apollo?

Page's entrance looks so, so much better IRL: versus https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1632569791914336256 (The link could not be embedded because twitter.com does not allow embedding of that tweet.) I did some theatre a while ago, so I'll offer these critiques, with more to follow -- instead of COW BOY SHT, it should say HANG MAN PAGE, and it might look better with one horse moving across screens, rather than three in their own loops. But those are tiny nits to pick. This was great - I buy a guy with THIS entrance coming down to challenge the Bloodline. Not so much the previous ecstasy of gold ripoff.

There's a good and important insight here into a challenge that the NXT model imposes on the main roster -- when you run a good story for someone that the crowd buys into (Bayley's chase for the title, Jason Jordan's search for a tag team partner culminating in the super-wrestling weirdo that was Ready, Willing and Gable, or in this case, very face Dakota's shocking betrayal of Rhea and Tegan and descent into twitchiness), you're giving them a very uphill intro to the main roster by calling them up fully formed, where the majority of the crowd won't have seen the journey, only the destination. (IMO this is also hurting Gargano)

It's probably Omos as bait for a Hurt Business reunion?

accidental double post, plz ignore

Respectfully, the bolded part doesn't feel true for me. Bryan's arc involved a shockingly quick loss at Mania, a MITB cash-in after a grueling match, and a whole lot of verbal abuse, and way better in-ring performances than his position on the card warranted. Cody already enters the game on second or third, gamely does some family-based stories, seems to enjoy Stardust at the time, and hits a lower, but still respectable, ceiling. The properties of the respective ebbs to their arcs are very different, to the point where "I'm gonna take the gold and prove them wrong" on the part of Cody feels transparently like his function is to roll out a red carpet for more compelling AEW hires. It also doesn't help Cody that he comes off as Homelander. Sami can be a lot, but IMO he communicates a lot more fundamental human decency and authenticity than Cody.

More Ziggler! Followed by Miz! and an interminable series of victories over Gable!

it also just doesn't make sense, Dusty died long before Roman was a thing

Missed the beginning of the show, went back to watch this. You're right to say it's weird, I'd go farther and say it's a match layout that was uphill in terms of getting the crowd into it. We start out wondering about Kiana and Fallon working together, we get incredulity when Carter slaps Brooks' ass, we get a disconnect when Fallon doesn't work with Kiana in double-teams - the Fallon segments are worked face v face, the Kiana segments are more traditionally heel-face - so we get this weird zone of feeling iffy about KC2 double-teams on a team that we're maybe supposed to be rooting for the unification of? We also have the not-great dynamic of Brooks and Jensen being there, so the tiny good-guy champs are outnumbered, even if B&J didn't do much. And then we kind of feel bad about the actual team losing to the face-heel team when the heel heels and the face doesn't notice. Really mixed-up messaging, would have benefitted from another week of build or a promo segment so we'd know more clearly how Fallon would feel about Kiana cheating to win.

I don't see how the story beats justify an IC EC rather than a US EC. Theory has been annoying lots of people for months and getting questionable wins by interference; GUNTHER has - with the possible exception of Sheamus - cleanly and fairly beaten a long line of challengers. EC makes perfect sense for the former as a multi-man cage match with a built-in way to stack the deck in Theory's favor. (Also, didn't you say you were going to stop watching because of how it's more explicitly supporting Vince again?)

12 Raw, not counting Bliss, Belair, Carmella 17 Smackdown, not counting Naomi or Maxxine Dupri 30 NXT, not running down the list, and not counting Yulisa, Lyons or Ariana Grace My guesses for NXT appearances -- Fyre, Indi, Roxy, Sol, Stratton, Stark.

Thought the KC2 / Alba match was really well laid out. Alba was not happy and taking it out on KC2 with lots of strikes, throwing them into the steps - character notes that make sense given her recent frustrations. Ruca - who beat Alba last week but might not feel great about it - is in the unenviable position of being a surprise unwanted partner AND having to beat on two much smaller competitors. So what does she do? Counters, flips, the occasional shoulderblock, a press, and a gorgeous big splash. Nothing that has her moves expressing anything beyond friendly competition. It's not 'personal' for her, per se, and so she seems OK with the loss and worried about what's up with Alba. Solidly done.

Unsure if it goes here or the general thread one forum up, but the NXT Instagram has posted entrance clips from a recent house show with Bron / Lyra / Roxy v Waller / Toxic Attraction (The Toxic Attraction Effect) and the heel entrance has Waller gyrating to the point where I almost cracked up. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cns4eixhSRY/ (Previous NXT House Show shenanigans have included Bayley and Balor swapping entrances, doing the lift from Dirty Dancing, an entire team doing Nakamura's sprawl, and a Sami / Bayley v Breeze / Banks tag that I'd absolutely love to see. ) We also have Trick Williams pinning a referee. https://www.instagram.com/p/CnsyG6KBQox/

There have been a lot of great Athena performances since the Jody Threat match, but ... this one did not resonate with me. It felt really awkwardly self-aware.

As per the Amended Statement of Beneficial Ownership, posted on 01/06/2023, Vince, Barrios and Wilson are all back on the board. https://corporate.wwe.com/investors/sec-and-other-documents/sec-filings

Alas, being in a match earlier in the night does not reliably predict anything about Rumble entry. Great performance by Raquel, hope she can get some momentum going.

We are now three for three on Booker T saying "coup d'etat" when the context would indicate "coup de grace" He followed tonight's up with something like "someone get that guy a MyPillow"

Willow's dancing to Ruby's entrance was fantastic. ... is Athena the most improved for 2022? I think it's between her and The Acclaimed.

There are definitely two group chats - one with Dom, and one without.

I guess I'm an uncomfortably low voter on Roxanne right now. In-ring I think she telegraphs too much and that her finisher is out-of-character and something she struggles to make look good. Others might telegraph to a similar degree, but because she's set up as being good in the ring, it stands out more. Based on her story so far, I would expect her fundamentals to be quick and solid, but there often seems to be an extra second or two on most of her preliminary grapples. Her mastery of basics could be more prominent in her match layouts rather than her resilience, but her needing a moment to psych herself up for a dive is good stuff. Broadly, in terms of character work, I don't think she's managed to hit the right balance of prodigously talented and underdog. There's a dissonance to someone with 'prodigy' on their entrance jacket while playing sheepish, and I feel it's something that people will sour on pretty quickly. In terms of attire, I also think she should be trying for something easier for kids to copy -- her gear comes off as a bit of a CAW right now and the asymmetrical sleeve is confusing.

O Wisdom of The Board, I have a friend who has started working with an indie fed. Initially brought on as a paramedic, she's starting to work as an interviewer as well. She's relatively new to the whole pro-wrestling thing, but is enjoying diving into the history (and is concerned about concussions and general orthopedic trauma; she really liked Rockers / Brainbusters as a window into another style). Her favorites are Rhea and Asuka, she also likes Sasha. She had no idea Bayley was ever a face. What are some good segments for her to watch, as someone wanting to learn how to be an interviewer? Cueing wrestlers, keeping a straight face, stuff like that.

someone should be making up comps week by week. this is an embarassment of riches.

There was a period of interminable Riott Squad v Ember Moon & Partners tags on Raw where the highlight was fairly consistently watching her annihilate Liv with dives. Would love to see those back in her arsenal when she makes it back up to the proper TV shows.

... do they seriously not have Skor in the States?!

took the words right out of my mouth, this.