HarryArchieGus

Deaner and Young seem like a solid pairing. Love Young's big elbow drop here. Crazy Steve could desparately use a character refresh. I'd like to see Black Taurus find a more meaningful role. He's so good. Give him a good manager, what's the Sinister Minsiter up to? Nice lil bout from Cardona and the truly 'always ready' Guido. What's Mamaluke up to? They should get him repping one of their lesser talkers. Yeah, Chelsea Green is so clearly a shooting star! She needs the strap. And I like the idea of Myers and Cardona getting serious about tag gold. Dumb post-match 'Impact' stale fail. Build to dropping the revenge of a heel going thru the table. Nice Shera squash. Pretty good Buphinder promo. Nice 8 man tag. I don't get the Gallows hate I sometimes see. I find him effective when he isn't being funny or charismatic. Matt Taven wasn't all that an attractive performer in ROH, but Impact seems like a good place for him. He and White need to have a singles. And Chris Bey is just getting better and better. Another shining star under the Impact banner. Some nice promos here, glad to see less magic camera. The Inspiration are just wonderful. The Jonah promo was good. So too Maclin's talky - tho, the dramatic music wasn't necessary, just give me a beat. Nice Laredo/Miguel-Austin/Bailey tag. The Bailey-Austin team is worth exploring. They need to strap Bailey with the title immediately. He's so clearly their breakout star. Everything here to close this show was the kind of Impact nonsense that makes this show so uncool. I mean I wanna get behind the ridiculouness of Vincent frankensteining PCO, and they did the best they could, but it's just so rotten. At least keep it quick/short. Alexander-Moose-D'Amore who-fucking-cares-snoozefest I ffwd right thru until that incredible piledriver thru the table. I don't like Moose getting killed going into Rebellion. Moose shows ass way, way, way too much. I'm doubting he wins at the PPV, and if he is winning, well, that seems like an even bigger mistake. Anyway, mostly good show here.

Impact has been more hit than miss going into this PPV. The real miss for me is the silly 'high drama' for Moose-Alexander, but regardless, it's one of the best matches they have, and I'm very much looking forward to it. I just didn't need domestic drama and skits. Just some promos and showcases would've been suffice. I'm even more excited for JONAH and Ishii. Sometimes I think JONAH is my favorite current wrestler. Curious for the Deonna Purrazzo-Taya Valkrye bout. I haven't actually seen much of Taya, but I love her charisma, and Deonna is such a gifted performer. She always pulls the best outta whomever. The multimans are less appealing. Impact would be smart to do far less multi-man, gauntlets, silly gimmicked bouts. That said, I'll certainly be giving the Maclin-White-Sabin bout a look. Oh, and the pre-show Edwards-Bey match could be really great. Dig 'em both. Happy to hear they've sold out the show. I wish they had the good taste to retrofit the look of the show to WWF Championship Wrestling 85/86.

I'm looking forward to the Pure Rules getting some play on a bigger platform. They really need a simple video package to showcase just prior to the bouts. The 'Rules' graphic at Supercard was too much for an uninitiated viewer. I hope they develop some new ladies, but I don't see where the talent is currently that would make me want to see More Women's Divisions matches off the bat. We'll see tho. Having a worker/leader like Martinez to head things up is a nice start. Willow too has been really impressive, and I look forward to seeing more of her.

I felt the same. I actually thought Marina Shafir looked more of complete wrestler too. One of the keys to her act might be strangely fighting from underneath. She comes across more natural when she's not awkwardly killing her opponent. I liked this bout. Interesting, I think that cut was just weak production. They sometimes do these replays on the post produced shows that make the action look like its awkwardly jumping ahead. If you watch tho, there wasn't much that could have happened inbetween - she throws her out, cut, she picks her up. Again, this has been a noticeable feature in a lot of the post produced AEW. I think you're completely right about Jade's lack of selling here. Especially noticeable during any holds that got locked in. I think you're onto something there. Nese could be an effective tag wrestler. And the right partner could be the key to him breaking his own ceiling. I'm patient on the Hook-Danhausen feud, but I am not quite digging any of these pre-tapes. That Baker-Toni-Hayter pre-tape was also weaker than I would hope for. I also wish Lance Archer squashes were more fun. I love good squashes, and especially Hoss squashes, but I generally skip Lance's. Maybe in part it's because I know he's always going to lose to whichever bigger star he's sending a message to. They should have Lance work some of the bigger boy enhancement talents they book for Dark. Or Bear Country. That's what would showcase his strength to me. And his strengths (he can work!). I wish they introduced some of these squash segments as stuff that happened 'earlier in the night. Here's the highlights'. And then shorten it to the essentials and add in some promo highlights. These lesser enjoyed portions aside, the wrestling was good on this show. Ishii might be my favorite wrestler. And Adam Cole has (at least in these parts) become terribly underrated. I do think Cole would benefit from a slight refresh, a bit less repetition, but overall I accept and enjoy what he does. Also, his character work/promos are far too good for him to be dismissed as the jabroni some suggest. Eddie Kingston looks great coming to the ring in his t-shirt. I wish the majority purists hadn't gotten their way post-ECW. Some wrestlers simply have a better presentation wearing a t-shirt. Further, Kingston almost always chooses great t-shirts. No surprise, he and Garcia had another terrific match. Post match promo was a nice touch. Eddie's one of the few guys in AEW that can make me truly look forward to an upcoming Jericho match. Swerve/Lee-Hobbs/Starks is a feud I am game to see go long. I am thoroughly convinced they are all gonna walk away from this making each other look like even bigger stars than they already all are.

Is that the Beer City Bruiser and his big buddy? That's a whole lotta meat slap right there.

Fair enough, it's not the Cyberfight model either.

Re: The WWE 'Brand Split' precedent AEW has for over 2 and a 1/2 years shown both an ability to learn from previous industry mistakes and To do 'not' what WWE does. When they air a dueling mic segment or something that reminds ppl of WWE, it is loudly recognized. And it isn't all that common - a reason why you're unlikely to hear the term 'WWE Lite' attached to AEW with any significant argument. ROH being produced as a separate entity from AEW is highly unlikely to share the same pitfalls of the WWE Brand Split or any WWE creative in general. Whether or not Tony Khan and his team are able to grow the letters ROH into a success will be determined in time. There are a lot of unanswered and important questions, but determining failure due to a WWE creative model or any other non-AEW exemplar is an empty argument. If like me you are a fan of AEW and their 2 and a 1/2 year run then a new ROH (not the old ROH) is worth a little patience. Maybe more of us should explore the NOAH/DDT example for a further precedent to consider. Any ROH updates this week in the Observer? @RIPPA(thanks for all the info shares)

My only guess here is you don't watch Rampage and haven't seen this House of Black-Fuego series? This is a truly 'Fight Forever (clap clap)' moment. The Blackpool Combat Club etc. can 'hold their horses', Fuego ain't dead yet.

Has anybody said Bad Luck Fale v Satnam Singh yet?

What a Miss Elizabeth moment we're all gonna have.

I hope you're right about Fuego and the House. I too had no idea Kyle O'Reilly was a hoser from Van-COO'ver, but this makes a whole lot of sense. Note: I didn't see a KOR match until a couple years ago. Was Jungle Jack being a little quick with Christian's advice pre-match? I loved the post match disappointment. That's how ya sell a loss! No doubt Christian's gonna need to make an example of the young Perry boy before too long. I am looking forward to that heel turn more than just about any that I can remember. I think we can all agree that a cantankerous Christian is the best possible Christian. I love the sounds of all these potential Sabre bouts. Did Colton and Junior ever lock horns in the Far East? For me it was Max's respectful intro cue for 'Mr. Roberts'. Goddamn it was great to hear Jake's raspy ramblings on a Wednesday night. I don't expect it, but I'd love to see more Jake Roberts and Max Friedman hangs.

Yeah, what are those well dressed Satanists on about? My hope is they aren't done beating the shit ouf of Fuego. Whether or not Micro Machine style ads are a good idea for AEW, that was tremendous voice work from the Man in the Mask. On thing's certain, nobody walked away from last night unimpressed by the results of Jose's shirt shred. Bring on goddamn Wardlow! I don't think Britt was nervous, I think she was gassed. You pose some great questions that Steel City boosters need to answer for.

@DEAN, the Takeshita-Moriarty match didn't get willed in last night, but how about a 'dream match' between Takeshita and Brandon Cutler for Monday!?!!

Just listened to the always enjoyable Observer post-Dynamite show. Were ppl as confused as Bryan and Dave by Wardlow being in his gear after he was handcuffed at the door? They suggested they needed something further to explain all this. I'll place myself in the camp that didn't need anything further explanation, but I'm thankfully amused at the minor complaint.

I too was delighted by Jose bursting out tonight. I followed with a little research I'd like to share. Also, is Darius Martin (MIA tonight and next week) okay?

L-O-V-E-A-E-DUB

I'm gonna second this one to be willed into existence. I'd also like to add to the 'will into exisitence' qeue: 50-75% less 'Cold Hearted Handsome Devil' calls from Excalibur every time the name Hook is mentioned. And how about a tag team match featuring 'Daddy Magic' Matt Minard and 'Cool Hand Ange' Angelo Parker?

C'mon, the Tony Khan blind follower argument is weak, and veers from the subject for what reason? Yeah, I'm optimistic. And yeah, I'm a big fan of this two and half year run of AEW. I'm not going to pretend that it hasn't been Tony Khan leading the production. I didn't watch wrestling for 15 years, and this company's consistent TV product has me interested again. I definitely give him the benefit of the doubt, but for good reason - his product is very good to excellent. Almost every week for something like 129 weeks. Yeah, I think that's impressive. All that said, I'll also share some decisions and things I don't agree with or don't like: I'm not a fan of putting feuding ppl in gimmick matches in their first match or as early as he has. I hate the Casino Battle Royal concept. I think the Face of the Revolution ladder matches are amongst the worst things in the company. I would say I'm 50/50 on any gimmick matches they've done. I don't like that he let Jim Ross be such a negative influence for so long. I don't like his choices of commentary much at all. I don't like at least half of his referee hires, and the way he allows them to look like idiots (sooo often). I don't like that he never or rarely has rematches and then decides Adam Cole and Page need another match, or that Shida-Deeb is the one worthy feud to go best of 7 or whatever they're doing. I don't think they've done a particularly good job of setting up their Women's Division - in particular not signing Deonna Purrazzo, Chelsea Green and Kilynn King. I don't think he has a very keen eye for gear presentation (a lot of guys/gals have awful cheap looking attire). I think his AEW Dark/Elevation bookings are inconsistent to weak (not that I expect big matches). I think it's a waste not to have promos on those shows. I hate his use of 'lights out', and from the beginning (not just the Singh debut). I absolutely hate his insistence on 4 hour plus PPVs with barely any breathing room between the matches (3-3 1/2 is my ceiling). I'm sure there are many more things I'm missing. Oh yeah, I loathe his promotional interviews on AEW unrestricted, and most any time he's overtly selling his product. I don't see this separately promoted ROH being some sort of rival to AEW. I don't see 'brand supremacy' as even remotely a factor. At least not for a long time. If it ever turns into a battle of the brands, yeah, they'll need some way of making it convincing. I don't see what the creative would be that does make it convincing, but I also don't see it as any sort of concern or question mark anyway. What is it that has you convinced that this 'brand supremacy' storyline is actually happening? I'm absolutely an optimist, and for the reasons I've already outlined. I'm also well aware that I could be wrong. I'll share with you that I thought the Heyman led ECW relaunch would be the thing that would save my interest in pro wrestling. Boy was I wrong, I did not forsee Vince McMahon's rotten involvement. At least not so quickly.

I think there's plenty of reasons to speculate as to why he would like the messaging to be 'level playing field' or whatever. And yeah, I think he plans to grow ROH into something special. Seems like an exciting proposition to me. I'd say Samoa Joe is the biggest current ROH star. Seeing as they've thus far only had a transitional 'supercard' it's hard to say what exactly the roster will look like. I suspect even the first TV will have new roster members. I'm curious for example if this is where Claudio Castignoli or DDT's Konosuke Takeshita land. I'd suggest it does matter that AEW booking/creative won't do WWE things. I don't see how WWE's choice to use WCW as an invading brand compares to any of this? And I agree that it was awful. I would have much preferred they went forth, like AEW with ROH, and had WCW as a seprate promotion. I shouldn't speak much to WWE's brand split post '05, but I can agree that it didn't work for my tastes prior to then. I also loathed their ECW relaunch. But again, these are all things WWE did, and I have little to no worry about Khan repeating any of those mistakes. I also don't find the same intangibles at play between any of the major sports leagues and wrestling. First, you already have two 'major' wrestling leagues. Second, wrestling is more about variety than 'who's the best'. It's rare that 'who's the best' really factors for me. I guess sorta in a quasi way something like Hangman-Danielson or the Briscoes-FTR was kinda that, but not really. I love, at least the potential, of how a new league provides so many new opportunities (and legitimate contracts) for new ppl. Again, variety is a huge part of my interest. I wanna see new guys get featured who aren't competing to take TV time from the likes of Punk or Moxley or Hangman or any number of AEW stars.

Until I see otherwise, I have no reason to believe they'll be following any of the WWE's booking/creative brand-split strategies. I think they've more than proven they are not prone to following suit with much of anything WWE does. TK seemed to be using the word 'laterally' in more of a freindly corporate or neutral way - something like 'I don't want to say one is bigger or better than the other'. Contrast that with how he later shot down the idea of guys like Bryan and/or Punk working ROH - other than in some special circumstance. He also added that a Danielson-Punk match would make more sense in AEW, not ROH. Coupling these notes together tells us a little about the ROH plans. And I maintain with the assumption that this whole thing starts as a lower stakes promotion with a few established veteran names (Joe, Lethal, Castle, Gresham), a crossover or two (FTR), younger AEW talent (Lee Moriarty), and projects (Tully's boys, Josh Woods, etc.). I also maintain, especially now, that this may start as their 'NXT' of sorts, but if it catches fire they will not be placing a ceiling on it. Further, I know it was only a small pod interview, and I'm well aware of the Warner Exec block talk, I also know they're currently doing some shots with Impact, but I got the sense from Tony's comments that the Briscoes might not be done with ROH. Not to say he was suggesting anything, but the comments and the Briscoes need for revenge for the Bucks attack has me hoping/wishing.

Thanks for sharing this. Red Velvet would've been an easy babyface if she could have come off naturally like this on TV. Here she seems like a really sweet lady. That said, very much looking forward to her playing heel alongside Jade and Kiera Hogan.

I think Big Paul has hit on something here. Alan 'Five Angels' getting Puzo'd could be a step in the right direction. Can we get him fit for a nice suit to wrestle in? This Week's Elevation made for a nice stationary bike ride companion. Statlander's looking ready for a push up the ranks. Andrade always looks great. I was watching this wondering what else Jose does in this company? Or if he's paid simply to play this role. Also, is he getting more animated in this rolel? I dig Jose's loyalty to the cause. I also like what Sterling adds to the Nese package. Good combo. Ruby Soho is indeed putting some things together lately. Fun Trios as per usual. It's surprising to me that AEW never features any Women's trios bouts on TV. The ladies trios on Dark are consistently good. In a division where consistency isn't a general feature it's probably worth them taking note. Dark Order looked like a well oiled machine in the 8 man. Roppongi-Factory was solid fare. Hardys/Top Flight-AFO was fine. Continually and quietly impressed by Darius. Dante's spectacular, but Darius looks like he's gonna be a hard ass as things move along. I wanna see Private Party put some things together a little more solidly. They've both shown promise, but also inconsistency. And their Indieriffic gear has always looked so cheap. It's time to consult somebody tasteful. Has Jeff's Swanton caused any reported injuries yet? I wanna assume he's a lot lighter than he looks coming down with that thing. I completely agree. Excalibur was also sharing a big poorly placed 'inside baseball' laugh during the Main. I like the rapport between King and Taz, but pick your goddamn spots. Laugh during the squashes if you must, not the competitive bouts and quasi-Main Events. Toni Storm looked good here. I think it might be time to let Rache Chanel go over some of these NXT releases. I just love her. I don't see much promise from Danielle Kamela. Wasn't buying that finish - wish I saw what you guys were seeing. Dug Dark Order-Hobbs/Starks. Stu's flip onto Starks seemed to be cause for concern. Starks certainly offered a receipt. Sadly, Marina Shafir doesn't seem to be translating to the bigger crowds. She does some interesting things in there. I'm holding out a little hope that she'll figure out how to put it all together, but it is looking a little grim. Swerve/Lee need to keep polishing this act, and make it something truly 'golden'.

Should we just go ahead and give Fightful the scoop on all the other names at the top of AEW's roster that WWE would no doubt want or want back? How long before 'WWE is interested in Hangman Adam Page'?

I've never seen Zayn/Bret/MTL debut, but that sounds like a very solid example of how I see this new ROH benefitting AEW. I like the second Cesaro example as well. Knowing so little right now, or where it might go, I'm less with the idea that it will always, or has to, remain a secondary promotion. If by chance it gets hot as a 'brand' I wouldn't be shocked if they ran with it as somewhat of a rival. Time will tell. Obviously there's a lot of potential opportunities if cultivated as well as AEW. There are so many intangibles and unknowns to be able to accurately predict how it will succeed or fail. That said, I do expect it to start, and likely remain, as a smaller stakes project. A 'developmental' of sorts. All this has me wondering how the new ROH roster would match-up to the initial AEW roster? It is worth noting that streamers all raised substantially during a time when so many ppl were stuck in their homes. Losses from things opening up are well worth a consideration to any down numbers.

There's a bit of confusion due to my use of the word 'reps'. I don't mean they need more ring time. I mean getting guys some TV/streaming exposure. Reps in the sense of being visible weekly or however often. In contrast, with AEW's limited schedule, Dark also qualifies for physical reps. My initial statement was suggesting Dark and Dark Elevation is a C show equivalent not a structured developmental like (an NXT or) what ROH might be.