Go2Sleep

Nox and Kai have really good chemistry. I really like heel Dakota and Nox brought the fire here. Glad Nox doesn't seem too hurt from one of the scarier "I am the table" bumps in recent memory. Balor/Gargano worked out really well being in the middle of the card. It kept the match more subdued with gradual escalation, utilized counters more than kick outs for drama, and had a good clean finish at the right time. This is what should be the main event style. The show was diminishing returns after those matches. The tag title match was good, but it should've been on a different show to stand out more. The main event was the bad kind of overkill, and the big angle setup didn't redeem it at all. Heel Gargano is 2 years overdue, and the ship has sailed, docked, unloaded, rotted, and been decommissioned on the Gargano/Ciampa feud.

I remember watching an old Nitro years ago (pre network) and Glacier fought Pat Tanaka. The strangest thing was hearing Pat Tanaka come out to Goldberg's theme, and realizing that one of WCW's most iconic themes was literally stock music. To confirm this just now, I'm quite sure I just became the first person to enter "Glacier vs. Pat Tanaka" into the WWE network search engine. You can be the second if you don't believe me.

I don't know if it's anyone's best interest if Hangman goes full Stone Cold. I think there's more potential with heel Bucks, and Hangman/Omega being clear faces. I bet the pop for Hangman dropping his beer and saving Omega from a Bucks beatdown would be off the charts.

Hangman/Omega vs. Young Bucks seems pretty likely. Some combo of Dark Order vs. SCU too. That could end up as Daniels vs. Uno or all of SCU vs. Stu and the 2 Jobbers with Uno lurking outside, though.

Aaliyah is another one who I'm pretty sure is dying for a change of scenery. She was one of the more promising mostly-WWE-raised women after the 4HW, but she's been buried under the constant influx of talent that's been coming into NXT year after year. She's still pretty young and would stand out a hell of a lot more in AEW than she does doing job duty in NXT.

Io Shirai is a lock, and Adam Cole seems like a good candidate for personal reasons. After that, you're probably looking at the talented guys that are log-jammed like Dain and a wide range of women since AEW has more openings there. There's also the curious cases of Dexter Lumis and Hijo Del Fantasma/King Cuerno. Last I heard, both were relegated to Evolve, but the former made by far the biggest impression in the Breakout tournament and the latter is probably kicking himself for not following Penta and Fenix to AEW.

That 8-man was super fun and was some really nice, efficient booking. Lucha Bros and B&B both needed a win and so have the face the strong team that's showing cracks. The Passion of the Cody served its purpose of being hard to watch putting massive heat on MJF. His heel work here was top notch. The ball shot after Cody didn't give up was a perfect way to end it. Between this, the car key to the eye, and Baker's tooth extraction, this was a good show for pro-wrestling violence.

Brock vs. Ricochet could be fun, but no way it lasts longer than 2 minutes. Real American Hulk Hogan having to pander to the Saudi prince is pathetically hilarious.

General AEW question that I've probably missed the answer to somewhere along the way: Why does Cody no longer have a last name? Does WWE actually have a copyright on "Cody Rhodes" or was that just a personal choice?

I really liked the Nox/Kai match, although they would've been better off with a no decision here instead of Tegan getting a pin already. I doubt it hurts Dakota too much since the feud's obviously not over. This type of sprint and the Balor/Seven extended squash are the kind of matches NXT needs more of to balance the overkill stuff. Have they explained anywhere who Robert Stone is, or is he an indy personality I should be aware of? Chelsea Green doing the early MVP gimmick is falling flat for me. I dig the Broserweights. Their matches are always going to be fun (even though I think they're missing some opportunities to work more submission based stuff in), plus their promo dynamic is incredible.

Oh man, I forgot about Santina. Easily the worst part of the show. "Look how progressive our women's division is, oh hey, a man in drag, isn't that hilarious?" Guess Vince just can't help himself sometimes.

The first half of the Rumble felt like survival mode in No Mercy. It wasn't terribly fun to watch after a couple guys other than the brief ND/Rey team-up, but the payoff was good. I'm glad they let Drew go all the way instead of just counting the Lesnar elim as his rub. You know Charlotte is over-pushed when Shayna winning would've felt fresh.

The Wolfe KO (concussion?) was unintentionally a great piece of storytelling if they're going for the Fall of UE angle over the next couple of months. Losing 4 on 3 is an even better note than just losing to Imperium. Walter's just showing off now going full babyface at the drop of a hat and turning into the most over guy on the show while doing it. I thought they'd work the match with UE more in the face role, but this worked even better. Barthel came out looking like a tough bastard too. I assume the rest of UE will lose their titles in Portland and we get some kind of UE implodes match at Tampa.

I don't normally give WWE writing any credit (and WWE comedic writing even less so), but Zack Gibson's line about the Dunne/Riddle team being called "Joint Manipulation" was absolutely perfect. I can't remember the last time someone delivered such a great, subtle double-take line like that. Even the "hey, did ya get it" follow up from Riddle was executed well and his goofy yet genuine enthusiasm for the "Riddle's gonna smoke you" chant was awesome. Matt's been on fire lately because his promo about how they formed their team was perfect too. Just enough to lampoon the "we have nothing for these guys so we're throwing them together as a team" concept while staying fully in character.

I think Walter is definitely trying to steal the show, but he understands how to do that as a big bruiser. Make the audience feel your size, and protect your moves. Most importantly, he emotes his entitlement and frustration when a prole dares to step up to him. He's still a very modern wrestler and his quick strike sequences, apron/ring post power bombs, and sleeper suplex are important to his presentation. That's what I really love about him, he's not trying to be Hansen or Vader, but he understands how to adapt their successful traits to a modern audience.

Walter has to be the best wrestler in the company right now. The match layout wasn't great with the unnecessary ref bump and very unnecessary Coffey visual pin, but Walter himself was fantastic. I loved how he winced in pain after he leveled Coffey with a chop even though he was acting like Coffey's strikes fired him up. Little things like that turn a standard spot into something memorable. At least after all the stuff with the ref bump, he thoroughly destroyed Coffey and made him tap to a headlock. It was a nice that it was different from the Bate match, which had more of an underdog survival energy. This was just too big powerful guys trying to wear each other down, and the slightly bigger and more powerful guy with better technique eventually won out decisively. The UE beatdown was well timed and well done.

Killshot, possibly. Shane Strickland was a name on the indies, but the timing of him signing with NXT seemed to coincide with the end of LU. I'm a little surprised they haven't done more with Evans and Angelico in AEW, since those guys seem like natural fits, at least individually. I haven't seen their work in Mexico together, but I don't feel a lot of team chemistry from them. Jack seems more like a heel and Angelico seems more like a face in the ring.

UE vs. Riddle/Dunne sounds so basic and uninspired booking wise, but I'll be damned if I don't want to see it.

The cloverleaf the best of the three for basement/backyard wrestling purposes because once you got the legs hooked (with your forearm behind the heel, not on the flat of the boot like the actual wrestlers do to not hurt each other) no one was getting out. With a regular Boston Crab, you're starting with one leg against one arm so even smaller opponents could fight you to put it on, then larger opponents could still power out with superior leg and core strength after it was applied. The Scorpion was way too contrived to put on anyone who was actively resisting. But that cloverleaf... You lock those hands, and ain't nobody pushing you off. You could even do a giant swing type move to smaller opponents from that position. Of course, none of those were as effective as a simple armbar or kimura, but even those paled in comparison to the king of shoot pro wrestling holds, the Tazmission. No shit, the easiest to put on someone big or small and everyone needs to breathe. Guaranteed tap every time.

That 8-man would be perfect for an early 2000s NOAH style Captain's Fall rules match. UE desperately protecting their weak leader while easily handling the relative jobbers but struggling with all their might to bring down Walter for 50 minutes. I'm sure it'll be good, but I kinda think they're burning a lot of quality guys in one match. You could split it off into Fish/KOR vs. Barthel/Aichner, Strong vs. Bate, Walter vs. Keith Lee, and Cole vs. UK upper midcarder who he can safely beat (Trent Seven maybe, I'll admit I don't know their roster that well). That would be half a show and would guarantee it being decent at worst.

A cage match lets Cody win by escape and keep Wardlow strong-ish. I just hope they get the Cody/MJF S&M show out of the way before the Kansas City Dynamite. I'm taking my wife to her first wrestling show and don't feel like explaining that one.

WWE's MOTY lists are more about putting over their biggest shows than the best matches. That's how you get Walter/Dunne from Mania weekend over Walter/Bate, or Bryan/Kofi as #1 when just off the top of my head, Bryan/KO/Ali from the month before was noticeably better, and neither match would be top 10 for me. The goal is to pretend the best matches happen on the biggest shows so more people will watch them. Any attempt to discern meaning beyond that or to discuss them seriously is a fool's errand.

At least she didn't find the "big dick" gimmick he had for about a month in WWE.

During the Cole/Balor match, Nigel quoted Jordan Peterson, then Mauro said "google Jordan Peterson, kids." Around the 12-minute mark. Pretty bad look to tell your audience to look up misogynist/transphobic videos, but it's WWE, so I'm not surprised. Maybe next week, Mauro will tell the kids to google Richard Spencer.

Oney vs. Drew McIntyre and pre-DIY Ciampa vs. Samoa Joe are my two favorite "super fun but not MOTY-level" tv matches from NXT.