Go2Sleep
-
Posts
3,206 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by Go2Sleep
-
-
4 minutes ago, chriskbrown50 said:
I think the concept of taking the 4 pillars and pointing them front and center with no additional people (no Jericho, No Sting, etc. ) is actually interesting. Can these folks stand and deliver, on the mic and in the ring, with no help? Every superstar at some point ran point on a program. Now was last night great - nope. But I give credit for TK for at least giving these guys the chance. A cadre of 4 wrestlers in their mid to late 20s on top you help make into top stars has the potential to establish AEW for the immediate future. Can each deliver? Time will tell - but let's give this some room to breathe. AEW to date has shown a decent long-term booking plan.
100% agree here. Can't complain about "the same guys always being on top" then immediately pivot to "these new guys suck." There is nothing inherently wrong with running MJF vs. JB or Darby, or even a filler 4-way, the problem has been this inexplicable shift to WWE-style long promo builds. MJF is the only guy who can really do that. Darby can do good short, intense promos, but Sammy and JB need to be limited to quick interviews and pre-tapes. The very first promo segment after Revolution was the only one this program needed. Just let them wrestle after that and let the ranking-drama be the story. JB and Sammy had a perfectly good Dynamite main last night, but all anyone is talking about is their bad promos. These guys are clearly assets for the future of AEW even if they aren't "the guy," so just book to their strengths as you let them put their toes in the main event waters.
Also, on the subject of young assets, Wardlow's stock is somehow on the rise again despite being booked terribly for nearly a year. Orange Cassidy is as hot as he's ever been. Takeshita is finally in a high-profile feud. Jay White has the look and skill to be a true ace. AEW is absolutely loaded with fresh acts for the next few years.
-
9
-
-
2 hours ago, Eivion said:
Were any of the matches aside from Jay/Kommander worth checking out?
Almost all of them. Women's tag finally hit the intensity to justify this long ass feud, and Jamie's opening run was great. Hobbs/Wardlow was fun modern hoss match. JB/Sammy may not be good at promos, but they are good wrestlers and they did their thing in the main. Acclaimed/JAS was skippable.
Really, it was a pretty fun show with two bad (and long) promo segments dragging it down. The opening promo was just a mess with everyone blurring the face/heel lines and trying to be cutey-shooty. MJF getting a big pop when he came out should be a big tell that something's off here. The Jericho/Cole segment was some goofy overacted shit. The "handcuffed partner forced to watch other partner beat down" is usually a guaranteed heat-builder, but this was totally flat. I get not wanting to go full Sandman/Dreamer, but Saraya's kendo stick shots were severely lacking. If you're gonna run one of these type of segments to up the heat on a feud, you need to make it a little uncomfortable to watch. Also, I'm begging AEW, for segments like this, please include a cut-in that shows an obvious save candidate (like Jamie Hayter) barricaded into their locker room.
That said, the BCC/Elite segment was awesome. Crime boss Danielson is so refreshing after the MJF feud, and I love Takeshita getting the rub here. I do think Takeshita and Callis will turn on Kenny in due time, but I'd like to see them milk the odd yet sensible babyface alliance with the Elite for a while. Still lots of mileage left for Takeshita as face, especially with this as his first real major feud.
-
1
-
-
AEW needs to focus on a split with ROH before they try anything crazy with their main shows.
-
2
-
-
1 hour ago, NoFistsJustFlips said:
If you want the man to have an aura of being this larger than life monster (which I personally think he should have), he can't go 50/50 with the Silas Youngs or the Brandon Cuttlers or the Fuego Del Sols. There has to be a tier he just rips through.
They could let Silas go a couple of minutes, long enough for the announcers to put over that he's a former ROH TV champ at least. There's a lot of room between jobber entrance/zero offense and 50-50.
It's a minor nitpick in the grand scheme of things, but why waste a guy who was at least being used as a good hand in ROH when any local or Serpentico would do?
-
4
-
-
Also, losing to Jay White won't hurt Ricky one bit. Most AEW fans are very familiar with White and see him as a big deal, and even someone who's never seen anything NJ at least knows that another company trusted him to play the same role as AJ Styles and Kenny Omega.
-
1
-
-
Only things I didn't like on the show were the women's segment and Silas Young in the jobber spot. Skye Blue vs. The Outcasts is reaching 96 Macho Man vs. NWO levels of not being able to get any kind of win for the babyface whatsoever. Then Jamie and Britt having separate entrances to run in when they're always side by side made no sense. Silas as a jobber makes no sense when he's already been introduced as a credible guy in ROH. Find another local for that spot.
Everything else though was good to great. Swerve and Darby always have great chemistry and was a great way to get Darby a win without Swerve looking bad. While he isn't Darby level, Swerve is also a pretty insane bumper, although it's not the first thing you think about him. The promo afterwards was way better than MJF's other segments with the pillars. Darby's promo felt way more real than the others and got under MJF's skin, plus Sting's still got it. The series of interactions has just confirmed my initial assessment that JB should be the first real challenger that comes up short, Darby should actually win, and Sammy has no business in the main event picture.
Buddy/OC was a MOTYC for sure. I actually thought Buddy was gonna pull it out for second. Malakai picking the bones of OC would make sense, but Buddy has a lot to offer in singles down the road.
Seems like no matter how bad they book Wardlow, he always gets monster pops. Casually letting the forklift run into the car one last time was a nice touch.
Jericho/Lee was a lot better than I expected. Both guys are talented, but this definitely seemed like a match where the chemistry could either be really good or really bad. Glad they landed on the good end of the spectrum. Swerve/Lee feud has gone ice cold now, but at least they remembered it existed. Long-term, I think a Lee/Cole face team could be pretty fun.
-
4
-
-
Two good signings I think.
Starkz is gonna be super good when she finishes maturing physically (in the sense of adding more muscle mass and improved coordination through reps) and gets to work with all the pros in AEW/ROH.
I'm one of the few Brian Cage fans here, but I think this version of the Embassy is a great heel stable for ROH and if he moonlights as Swerve's muscle, that's a big step up from Parker Boudreaux and that tattooed guy who may or not have ever wrestled before.
-
6
-
-
1 hour ago, Craig H said:
Logan Paul is a dope professional wrestler and brings an audience with him. He's a natural heel. You'd be actively turning down money to not want him wrestling in AEW.
Yeah, I don't know if he's a shithead in real life or what his youtube channel is about, but he's had some insanely high output in WWE the last couple of years, and his style would fit even better in AEW. Logan vs. OC would be amazing.
-
1
-
-
52 minutes ago, Technico Support said:
Fightful is saying there will be layoffs after the merger, including finding cost synergies in the front office.
Someone with more tolerance for corporate bullshit bingo speak can find the press release.
Not surprising since WWE is usually doing roster cuts at this time of year anyway. "Cost synergies" just means the cuts will extend to corporate this year, probably mainly to long-time WWE office people. Endeavor will want more of their people in control, so outside of Vince and Nick, office people should probably be in JTG mode.
It will be confusing this year because the "Future Endeavors" will actually be the people not getting fired.
-
36 minutes ago, Log said:
We've seen instances in the past where threads here have a way of "manifesting" things in AEW. I love you guys, but I swear to God, if fucking old-ass Goldberg shows up in AEW, I will travel the world smacking anyone who suggested it here upside their damn heads.
Goldberg vs. Jarrett, Goldberg squashing QT, or maaaaybe Goldberg/Sting vs. Jarrett/Lethal so long as it isn't Sting's last match would be the only acceptable uses for him. I'm not a huge fan, but I'll tolerate a few minutes of him if it helps AEW sell some tickets for this show.
-
2
-
-
Speculating on AEW's biggest card ever is fun, so why not?
Omega/Ospreay 2 with Will getting the win back seems like an obvious main for Wembley. I thought they might run that at Forbidden Door, but it's definitely needed more for this show. Any chance they could get Vikingo to work Ospreay at Forbidden Door?
I think Mercedes/Hayter is more of a Forbidden Door match, with Hayter/Saraya at All In, and Mercedes vs. Toni or Britt.
Is Drew Galloway that big of a draw in the UK? Clash at the Castle did well but I don't know how much of that was him vs. WWE in general. If AEW can snag him, you could run him vs. MJF or Mox here I think.
Danielson/ZSJ seemed like a lock for Forbidden Door, and I don't think you wanna shortchange that card too much just because you have an even bigger show on the horizon. You could probably run that match twice pretty easily, but ZSJ could work a lot of people at All In too. Pac or Shibata would be good candidates.
Sting retirement match would be a big draw, though it's tough to think of the right opponent. Don't think he's really up to doing MJF, nor do you want MJF shitting all over him. Dustin is there if you want some history or a dual retirement thing, but Dustin isn't much of a draw at this stage of his career. Jericho is a better fit for legend vs. legend, but there's no real history between them. I kinda like Darby giving him the Shawn/Ric treatment en route to winning the belt. Darby will bump enough to make Sting's offense look good too.
-
3
-
-
BCC promo would've benefited from a segment or the announcers mentioning that Kenny/Dark Order weren't in the building. Hangman's look of panic Danielson showed him the screwdriver was pretty chilling. Also would've helped if they made it clear if Danielson went for the eye or just the forehead.
Jay White debut was good. I suspect he'll get a singles push at some point while Juice or someone lower in the BC take most of the falls when it's time to lose. Worst part of QT and Hobbs is that it's robbing us of Hobbs and Ricky as a face team.
Hayter/Riho was really good. Played the power/speed dynamic without losing the face/face feel.
Trios title was fun as well. Really like all the HOB members work at a cohesive pace while differentiating their individual styles. They can always be counted on for a good match.
Didn't care for the MJF promo. JB didn't lean into being the one-night heel which made the ending flat. Gotta just crack him with the cymbal. Sammy's promo made him look like he didn't belong. Totally heatless with a crowd that was going nuts for MJF's bad singing minutes earlier.
Main event was solid even if the Gunns aren't quite able to get to FTR's level for a big match. They did a good job with a couple false finishes and the Gunns desperately going for DQs was in character. FTR could've used a stronger finish, but still good see to the faces overcome the odds and win when they need to.
-
3
-
-
2 hours ago, Jenalysis said:
TK did the same thing with Eddie vs Claudio, yet isn't getting the heat. I think a lot of it is level of trust in the company, AEW/ROH fans trust the booking to pay off in the end, WWE fans have been burned too much.
Plenty of people weren't happy with the booking of Supercard of Honor (myself included), but the stakes were considerably lower. It's not even Tony Khan's top promotion, and Eddie (while generally a people's champion type of guy the last couple of years) hasn't been steadily pushed as someone ready to take the lead for either AEW or ROH.
-
If Dante didn't have any ligament damage and it was just a bone break, he'll make a full recovery in 6-8 months. Those tibia/fibula fractures always look gross, but unlike ligaments and tendons, your body can grow new bone cells. His prognosis with a dangling foot is much better than Shane McMahon's seemingly innocuous fall, even without taking age and general conditioning into account.
Edit: To clarify, this is not actual news about Dante Martin, just me observing patterns of athletic injuries from 30 years of watching sports.
-
5
-
-
And ya know, Brock killing Cody right after Mania would've actually made a ton of sense if Cody won the belt. Brock can go for the belt again, so he found his inner monster. As it is, well, I think we can put the "maybe Cody was better off losing" argument to bed.
-
4
-
-
37 minutes ago, Greggulator said:
Define “everyone” because I did not think that. Nor did a lot of people. Cody won me over the past few weeks but before that I thought he was a total tool.
Cody signing with WWE was the biggest (on screen) story of the year. People were talking about him beating Roman as soon as Summer Slam. After he cemented himself with his (probably stupid) HIAC performance, he was the clear successor to the throne. Cody losing here would've been like Austin losing to Shawn or Cena losing to JBL. The story is obvious but everyone wants to see it. It's why Marvel movies make a billion dollars each.
I'm pretty confident that whatever angle they go with will not produce a moment as hot as if Cody had won Sunday.
-
4
-
-
1 hour ago, Greggulator said:
I think people also need to redefine “fell into their lap.”
He fell into their lap because he never should've been available to them in his current form. They got extremely lucky that he had a fallout with the co-founders of his new company. WWE had 6 years or so with young Cody and never got him above IC/US level, and was a jobber by the end of his run. He goes out on his own, finds a style and presentation that works for him, and WWE gets all the benefits of a potential ace despite doing not just no work, but counterproductive work to get him to that level.
He'll be fine like Seth Rollins is fine booking wise. This was their chance to officially make him the top guy everyone thought he would be when they signed him.
-
1
-
-
I tried to watch this back to back on my day off, probably a mistake. The Day 2 portion definitely started to drag for me after a pretty good Day 1.
Day 1 was basically "how you should book a Mania" and Day 2 was "how WWE has booked Mania the last 8 years."
I think the only person on the horizon who could credibly challenge Roman next year is Gunther, but that's a long shot. If they can't pull the trigger with actual main event Cody Rhodes falling into their laps, who can they pull it with? They seriously might as well go after Bruno's reign now, they're already halfway there. It sure as hell ain't gonna be Bron Breaker or Austin Theory. The idea that Cody should win it on another show is terrible as well. You don't give your new top face his crowning achievement in front of 15,000 fans, you do it in front of 80,000 (and this was actually a good crowd too).
That said, I would mark for the vintage HHH pettiness if this was all about that throne thing from AEW.
-
2
-
-
This might the most enjoyable show I've seen where so many matches had the wrong result.
Vikingo/Komander was a total spotfest, but the spots were top-notch. I think they now own the coveted "most ridiculous destoyer" trophy.
6-man titles was a smart power vs. speed match worked at a modern pace. Surprised to see the face team get so much offense. I guess Cage worked out a new deal, which is fine because the Embassy are pretty good B-show ace team.
Athena/Yuka was good. Athena is much better as a heel.
Joe/Mark was great match, but they definitely outsmarted themselves with Joe going over. Predictable heel wins are bad, predictable face wins are usually good. A better crowd would've helped this match a lot no matter which direction it went, though.
Garcia/Tana was good fun.
The ladder match was what it was. The "most ridiculous destroyer" trophy almost changed hands twice in one night, but you're disqualified if someone actually gets hurt. Not really sure what the endgame is for Lucha Bros as ROH champs. There's no one on their level at the moment and it's more AEW/ROH blending which I was hoping this show would be setting them up to move away from that.
Shibata/Yuta was an extended squash. I thought for sure they were setting up Yuta for the cheapest of wins with how bad he was getting outclassed. If there was one match the heel should've won, this was it. Shibata is awesome, but what is there for him to do in ROH? What good does it do ROH to not have their one distinct title regularly featured on their show?
Claudio/Eddie was MOTN for me. Really good late-90s AJ/early 00s NOAH feel. Claudio was working extra stiff tonight. In a vacuum, it's a leading MOTYC. In the context of a show with 2 of the 3 heels already retaining titles, closing the show, and not letting ROH establish any identity outside of AEW, it was entirely wrong. In a way, it was similar to MJF/Danielson where the booking was all wrong, but everything was executed perfectly between the bells.
-
QT using the orange crush has to be one of the biggest "cool move wasted on a mediocre wrestler" offenses ever. Why not have Hobbs do that instead? The name sucks too because the Bucks already coined Meltzer Driver years ago.
-
1
-
-
Kind of a meh episode of Dynamite after last week's great show.
Danielson turn was extremely predictable and poorly sold by the announcers, but it did get the right crowd reaction so they're definitely onto something with Hangman as the babyface ace. It's also nice to see a top heel stable without Jericho as the centerpiece.
Overall, this program had way too much heel dominance. The BCC angle was cool enough, but OC getting dominated by Butcher and not winning clean, injured/distracted Omega giving most of the match to un-over Cobb, Cole giving most of the match to lower-ranked Garcia, Willow and Riho looking like total idiots against the Outcasts. Even when the faces did get a moment, it didn't compensate and the crowd wasn't as into it as they should be.
-
The Vince meme doesn't have enough panels.
-
1
-
-
7 hours ago, christopher.annino said:
I was gonna say something about Chris Masters showing us that ANYBODY can become a better pro wrestler if they put the work in, then it made me wonder what other folks started as real channel changers and eventually became capable to DAMN GOOD performers - and how much of it was environment/learning from wrestlers around them?
Nikki Bella and Trish Stratus.
I don't know if Christian fully counts because his team with Edge was great stuff, but as singles guy he was painfully boring until he went to TNA. Some combination of being the big fish in a small pond, a promotion backing him with confidence, and working with fresh faces made his matches must-see pretty quickly.
Currently in AEW, Big Bill.
-
3
-
-
Also, ROH is basically early AEW/prime NXT now. If you like that simple pro-wrestling aesthetic and tighter matches/shows, you should definitely be watching Honor Club every week.
-
3
-
Ring of Honor - 2023
in ALL ELITE WRESTLING
Posted
I really liked Vikingo/Loco. Vikingo definitely has 96 Rey vibe, and this match showcased it better than the Komander match. He hit some crazy stuff most people haven't seen, but he also got to work from underneath some and showcase some decent striking. Much like Rey having good technical skills, it may not be what people want to see the most, but it's important to fill out matches so they aren't collections of stunts with nothing holding them together, which get old very quickly. More matches like this and his fanbase in the US will grow very quickly.
Only minor nitpick is Vikingo shouldn't have exposed the business with the catch spot. Not exposed in the sense that someone his size shouldn't be able to do that spot because he obviously did it in plain sight, but exposing that every wrestler is super strong and it's nothing special when a big guy catches someone out of the air. He can do enough cool stuff, save some things for the guys who can't do springboard 630s.