Go2Sleep

I think Danielson putting his career on the line was a great move to give the match "top show main event" stakes without telegraphing the winner. I could just as easily see Bryan celebrating with the title in front of 50,000 as I could seeing him get the last 5 minutes to soak up "Thank you Bryan" chants after his last hurrah.

Hangman's been a full heel since he came back, it's only a matter of how much more unhinged he's gonna get and who's gonna stop him. That 6 man was really good, and definitely the type of finish AEW should be sprinkling in more often. The Beast Mortos didn't look out of place at all among the higher-end midcarders, and got a credible-looking win over a much higher-ranked opponent. That's the type of win that someone of his standing can live on for a while. Opening promo was bizarre, almost like MJF, Will, and Kyle were challenging themselves to get the right reactions with Brit and Aussie faces taking on the heel with the obnoxiously pro-America gimmick in South Carolina. Credit to them, though, they pulled it off. Stat finally used Stokeley's chain successfully! Kamille as Diesel to Mercedes' Shawn works really well. I feel like the CEO heel gimmick plays a lot better when she's got someone to do her dirty work and rubbing her connections with the EVPs in everyone's face. Couldn't disagree more with Mercedes not helping the division, since she's been a perfect foil for babyface Britt. Funny thing is they're basically doing a good WWE angle. The match may be mediocre, or pleasantly surprising, but the tried and true character work is gonna carry the day no matter what.

If TK wanted the belt on Danielson for a short reign, he should've had him win one of the Punk-injury tournaments. I'm fine with Danielson joining Sting and Cody as guys who didn't need the top belt to be a top guy in AEW's history.

I think that describes Joe's reign more than Swerve's, when Ospreay and Okada hadn't debuted (full time) yet. Kenny is the only one of those guys still out, and he was in the tag division before he had step down. Swerve already took the next step in the TDM, and probably should've been the one to dethrone MJF, but he was in the CC and MJF's body gave out before they could wrap up all his stories. They even had teaser where MJF and Swerve ran into each other backstage and it was a real "oh shit" moment.

For Swerve, his run is about cementing him as a lifetime top guy. Going over other top guys strong and the company showing they trust him in the top spot on big shows is how they do that. The big storyline beat for him will going back to the Hangman well, but I don't think they need to rush that. Swerve/Darby at Grand Slam is a perfect TV defense, and they can run MJF vs. Swerve at Wrestledream. The Hangman blow off at Full Gear on the anniversary of the TDM feels right.

Collision was a fine step-back show after a major Dynamite, but BOTB was a huge waste. I don't understand how you have a show called "Battle of the Belts," a million different titles floating around, and end up with a show that is 2/3 non-title matches. Then they brought back the ROH 6-man belts a couple months after they had just merged them with the AEW ones. You could've booked a 2-week mini-feud with Dustin/Von Erichs and the Kingdom and having the Texas Royal Families go over would've been just as meaningful without belts that won't be seen for months.

I'll be honest, I don't see much reason for Danielson to win the belt at All In, even though I wouldn't really hate it. Giving him a feel-good moment just to job it back to Swerve a couple months later is predictable and doesn't do anyone much good. It'd be one thing if Danielson never had that type of moment before, but he has, and he doesn't need a lesser version of it right before he (kinda) hangs 'em up. Doing it with Hangman interference would be even worse because then you don't even get the feel-good part for Bryan. You already have Ospreay going over MJF for the huge babyface triumph moment.

Agree all 10 guys brought it to offset the lackluster build. All of Swerve's stuff was executed well, especially the staple gun party. They went to great lengths to demonstrate Hangman is definitely not with the Elite. The Acclaimed ditched the comedy and upped the violence. Mark Briscoe despite not fitting into the story, showed that experience with this kind of stuff goes a long way and was the MVP of the match. The whole babyface team came out looking strong.

Roll them in with Stokeley and Stat, who's also a lifter. It would be a better version of Diamond Mine.

Love the idea, but I don't think you need Lashley for this. Hobbs/Wardlow doing this gimmick might just save both their AEW careers.

Something in Jay's lower body had to give carrying Billy's fail-sons for the past year.

Helluva autocorrect

I liked the feel of the E-Sports Arena, even if it looked small. An intimate studio with a good crowd is better than a 20% full basketball/hockey arena where you can't hear much. Really feel bad for Skye who was just getting back into the TV rounds after her story with Julia got scrapped. Her leg looked like it got tangled under her pretty bad. Hopefully youth and good flexibility will keep her from needing surgery. Hologram being someone completely fresh was a relief. Doesn't seem like a high-ceiling gimmick, but seems like a solid depth guy for AEW at least. BCG comes across as really low-rent without Jay White, although Juice plays well as a babyface. Definitely smart to flip the belts over to the Patriarchy and emphasize that feud for HOB headed to All In. I kinda feel like TK owes HOB one for jobbing them at their hottest last year for Acclaimed to get a "feel good" moment that never went anywhere.

It's probably better that the fact it was Sammy leaked a couple weeks ago so everyone could just shrug it off instead of building it up and having one singular moment of disappointment play out live. The door is mostly closed with Sammy. I suppose there is a small chance of something interesting coming from this Hologram thing, but it won't involve playing it straight.

I think Briscoe is more of the odd guy out than the Acclaimed. At least they have a pre-existing feud with the Elite and are Day 1 guys which makes them stepping up to defend the honor of Tony Khan a little more believable. I guess Kenny's not ready yet, so someone has to fill in, but this is where you just call up an "ol' reliable" like Mox or Danielson. I also kind of agree that the build up is an afterthought. Very WWE-like "well this match happens at this time of year, so here it is." I kinda get the feeling it was supposed to be Kenny in there with the match being for all the EVP power, but he's not ready and so they're kicking the can down the road. MJF/Ospreay was pretty cool because they filled 59 minutes well while still making it seem like they have even more available for a re-match. The diving hidden blade spot was top notch, and the false draw finish was a great play too.

Everything about it seems like it's non-title, but cutting Swerve's legs off like that would be one of the worst things in AEW history and is completely antithetical to them as a company. Also, while Okada's reputation precedes him, he isn't exactly positioned as a top guy in AEW right now. If Swerve loses, it'll be with lots of Elite interference to set up B&G. And I'll go further with the hot take that the Danielson/Okada matches have been good, but they haven't been that good. I expect Swerve can have an equally fine and much fresher match with Danielson that will benefit him and AEW a lot more in the long run. For Swerve, the big accomplishment isn't the match itself, it's the fans seeing that a billionaire promoter believes in him as a guy that deserves to headline their biggest show. Without that, he'll always be second tier, and he deserves way better.

Very happy with this show as Chapter 2 on the road to All In. I'm glad Danielson won the men's tourney. Swerve and Hangman need a lot of time apart, although I'm ok with them being the focal point of B&G. I think there's a lot more interesting stuff to do with deranged Hangman coming to his senses (ideally with the assistance of Kenny Omega) than just trying to re-capture the lightning in the bottle they got with Swerve in the Texas Death Match. As for Bryan, he absolutely deserves one last mega-show main. The Jericho/Joe stuff was kind of silly, but the good kind of pro wrestling silly. Jericho's group has to get a little heat for the gimmick to work. That 4-way was surprisingly good. Expected it to be more filler-y, but they all went pretty hard down the stretch. Pac vs. Ospreay isn't a direction I was expecting, but it's not a bad overachieving midcard match to hide Will in if he's not going to be the focal point of the show. I'm sure both guys consider it a high honor and the fans will eat it up, but shouldn't drain the heat out of everything else. Guess they're just gonna do MJF/Garcia straight away, even though that seemed like a big angle match that could've waited for All Out. Good to see the women get the main, and Mariah 100% justified it with that closing angle. I said a while ago the best way for this angle to play out would be to have Mariah go the Mark Chapman/Yolanda Saldivar route. Toni has made the gimmick so big, that a psychotic superfan is really the only way to undo it. It'll be interesting to see how it plays in London, but I trust they'll make it work. Next week's show is just stupid in a good way. Ospreay/MJF and Swerve/Okada on free TV? Even with some expected bullshit in both matches, that's pretty crazy.

Who was that video teaser for before the women's match?

I think he's actually got potential as a future guy. He's young, got good size, can keep up with the main event style, and hanging out with Ospreay will hopefully enhance his charisma (which I think is there, but not showing currently as a Callis goon). I can imagine him as an AEW main eventer in few years easier than like Hook. The trios division is fine. When Buddy gets back from his honeymoon, HOB have feuds lined up with the Patriarchy and BCG, who are feuding with each other in the mean time. Jericho and Joe's competing educational institutions have a strong non-title feud and either group could be easily moved into the title scene when that's done. You still have Death Triangle and Top Flight floating around. I do agree that the tag division is lost right now, though, especially since FTR went down. Seems like they can only do one at a time. MCMG were rumored/seem like an ideal fit, but I don't think that was ever confirmed.

I like the alliance of Briscoe and KOR, but I don't like them being positioned as possible guys for Blood and Guts. There's just no natural heat with the Elite, no original-ness, and to be frank, no star power. The Elite already beat the FTR/Darby/Danielson team at Anarchy in the Arena, so you need better team than that for Blood and Guts, and Briscoe/KOR just don't fit the bill right now. The Acclaimed are at least originals and could use a rub like this to stay relevant, but the other 3 guys need to have some real firepower. Swerve is obvious, and Kenny should definitely be there if he's healthy. I could see a case for the 5th being Ricochet, Darby, or Hangman, but I'd pick Darby. He's a natural babyface who can sell choosing his loyalty to AEW over his feelings about Swerve, which highlights Hangman's personal failings for making the opposite choice and joining up with the Elite. Ricochet would have the instant gratification pop, but lacks the long-term story beats imo.

Very heel heavy show, but it was a good one. Britt/Mercedes segment was good stuff. Mercedes getting a little heat rub from the Bucks, then going out there and big-timing the AEW original to massive heat. The facial expressions from both women as the crowd chanted DMD (pure disgust from Mercedes, and a nearly tearful appreciative smile from Britt) literally made the whole feud. Jarrett, that sly old dog, just pulled out one of the better TV matches this year. I think Dustin has been trying to get that "one last shot" type of match for like 3 years straight to mediocre results, and Jeff put on a master class. Hangman was great here too, don't get me wrong. Both guys deserve credit for shaking off the "welcome back" pop for Hangman quickly and getting the crowd to pop big for a couple babyface Jarrett spots. The desperation Stroke on the apron, and ducking the first buckshot into the sharpshooter were both excellent spots. Goes to show you can get a great story out of a match with minimal build. The Learning Tree group finally got one over on Joe's School of Hard Knocks. It lacks the right irony level for the "Jericho vortex" meme, but match-wise, there's still some juice there. Main event was solid, and MJF heel turn was well done. Now that Ospreay is there to carry the top babyface mantle, MJF can go back to his natural habitat, though I think his face work was underrated. Garcia is finally breaking through with this angle, but I hope they run MJF/Ospreay with a completely over-the-top face/heel dynamic at Wembley.

For as much as AEW loves tournaments, they should do a U25 one. Mainly because I'm interested to see Hook pair off with Nick Wayne.

This is a strange criticism in this context because several other main card matches had finisher kickouts or escapes. MJF got out of Hechicero's sub, Danielson and Takagi each kicked out of each other's finisher as did Mox and Naito, Toni kicked out of Mina's finisher, and Vaquer got out of the Bank Statement a bunch of times before finally tapping just off the top of my head.

No, I felt like I got exactly what I wanted from that match. Super fast and clean action sequences, good counters on signature spots making both guys hit them in creative ways, generally two guys looking like the actual best guys in the company fighting for the title. Both are established hard-to-kill guys, and this is the type of match where a couple finisher kickouts per side are justified. They didn't burn the TD91 and Big Pressure still got the win on the first try. The only thing that wasn't really necessary was the ref-bump/visual fall. The Callis bullshit was minimal and pushed the killer instinct/ethical winner dilemma without discrediting the result of the match. The efficacy of this type of match is obvious because they had the otherwise-terrible crowd invested from the get-go and kept them in it the whole way. The build and execution was perfect by both guys. Loved ZSJ/OC too. Mox/Naito was kinda bad.

This will be a great show if the multi-man tags are in the 5-10 minute range. It had the vibe of a one-match show (though that one match should be a slam-dunk MOTYC), but looking at the card again, there's a lot of good stuff in there. Mone/Vaquer and ZSJ/OC both have some show-stealing potential, Danielson and Takagi seem excited to work together even if the result isn't in question, the ladder match is well placed to add variety, and the multi-mans have potential to be fun sprints to balance the singles epics. Hopefully everyone realizes that and doesn't need to get all their shit in with multiple heat segments.