HarryArchieGus

Kalatozov! Your post reminds me that there's more than Cranes, I am Cuba and Letters Never Sent. Have you seen either of those other two? I am Cuba has a camera sequence that is mindboggling by any standard of any day. Very curious about Perfect Days.

Don't they regularly front load the show? This show opened with a huge debut followed by a World Title match followed by Okada's Dynamite in-ring debut followed by Will Ospreay. The last two segments were arguably the weakest potential draws.

There was a couple rough spots (not necessarily bad), but Billie v Diamante was pretty darned solid. Definitely agree that Billie isn't quite where she will be (one of the best), but she's way ahead of other young'uns like Anna,Skye, or Julia. And (looking over the roster page) way ahead of Baker (in-ring), Penelope, Nyla, Shafir, Rosa, Ruby, and most of the regular AEW roster. She really needs to stop with that trio of dives spot. Save it for big matches. I worry that she's gonna get hurt working a meaningless ROH TV match.

I suppose the thick accent and Bruvs intially threw some off, but not all of us. His AEW cameos were really good and made clear he had a mic game. Not to say he isn't going above and beyond since his full time debut, but the potential was pretty clearly there. Hunter may have not been familiar (doubtful), but there is no way Paul Heyman didn't see it. Meltzer on the other hand was still questioning his promos a couple weeks ago, so it would be more accurate for him to say - he didn't see it.

Fun, fun, fun! I really liked Renee opening with a little rundown. The Mercedes promo was fine, and I was mostly along for the joy-ride. Samoa Joe promo was on point, the Cole Video was slightly less appetizing, but alright. Wardy showed he can promo, but didn't get any mic time after the PPV win. That is to say - the build over the past week left a little to be desired. Wardy v Joe was fine. I'm with @MattD on there should've been an escape and follow up Kokina Clutch. Not saying they buried the guy, but I wondered to myself - is 'Mike' headed to WWE now? I like seeing Swerve run-in, but kinda hate the destroy all security trope. It did lead to that fun Joe bit tho. Bucks/Okada promo was great as per usual. I couldn't stand Alex Marvez until I met him, and now I can't dislike him. Heel Okada, amirite? Bucks/Okada v Penta/Pac/Eddie was all kinds of fun as expected. I'm getting a feeling like even the Bucks low voters are coming around on this excellent heel act. Nice build to Okada v Eddie. Not that there was much indecision, but - I'm in. Christian/Copeland video was alright. To be clear, Orangeville Ontario is not Toronto. Not that I wouldn't like to know more about that town. Another excellent Will Ospreay promo. I imagine it's shitty to be a hater when he's killing it in ring and on the mic. The surprise at his promo aptitude is strange to me. It seemed pretty clear during his Forbidden Door etc cameos that he needed to be on US TV showing his excellent promo skills for at least two years. If a DVDVR 2022 archive is intact there might just have been a poster suggesting as much. Ospreay looks poised to be the biggest brightest star in wrestling by 'Dynasty' if not sooner. Deonna promo was excellent. I'm feeling that natural heel coming alive and I love it! Jay White v Darby was every bit as wonderful as I thought it could be. These two are poetry in motion in that ring. Fucking insane bump. Would've been totally fine with the countout, but loved the finish! POP! The post match angle was wonderfully heated. And Relieving. Welcome back Jay White! I got distracted by the boobirds in the Hook/Jericho v Gates bout. I'm not sure I was paying much attention at all here. Might even take a second look. The Gates entrance costumes and Laker colors were fantastic. Kyle O'Reilly promo was solid. I like the reference to the quality of this roster. Looking forward to Keith v O'Reilly, but... that being the only match advertised is 'AEW promoting' at it's worst. Jericho/Hook promo was good. Goddamn, please Chris Jericho end this babyface run next week. I love that Jericho told Hook that he could be a World Champion one day while holding a belt over his shoulder that says World Champion. Is there a way we can summon Poffo/Hennig from their graves to hammer the fuck out of that needless title belt? Willow v Riho was fantastic. Willow looked like a proper powerhouse. Riho is such a smart worker. I loved this match. Brutal bump by Willow there. Skye Blue is exponentially better as a heel. The Mercedes run-in was great. Time to question Kristin Statlander about her whereabouts. Hoping for the heel turn there. What an 'AEW rules the world' episode! Can't wait to ride the 511 down to the Coca Cola Coliseum next week and feel the AEW Live NRG!

Excellent points. Chanting 'CEO, CEO' is truly senseless pro wrestling. Aided by a song with the chant makes the audience look even more like sheep. I'll happily walk that back if CEO ends up standing for something clever. I didn't hate the promo, but McGirt nails it for me with the Oscar comparison. Nonetheless, I am looking forward to what she potentially brings to the division/company, and overall much like everybody I was into the feeling of excitement this debut provided. I don't dislike the silly dance, but I'll be eagerly anticipating the answer to this...

I hope Eddie Kingston starts telling the world who is best friend is again. I very much like Penta. I'll never get that image of him bleeding all over his child after the big Cage match win over the Bucks outta my head. That said, I love the camera pull idea going around.

'I love that dirty water (I love Boston)' I'm getting stoked over here for Dynamite at 630am tomorrow morning!

I get that. I just wonder how they determine that one guy will have to face five others while another has to face one. It's overthinking considering it's WWE, but this regime seems willing to explain things.

I feel the same as the bolded comment. I'm tuning in mostly to see Gunther, Gable, Zayn, McIntyre, Rock and Ripley. My FFWD does stop a wee bit more to see all the fantastic production tricks (not talking about those awful graphics like the giant Reigns). I can't stand most of the promo segments. On this show I tried to make sense of Rollins-McIntyre while FFWD most of Seth. I'm not sure there's anything I have greater distaste for than 'Freakin' on the mic. Jay Uso either on the mic or in ring is pretty close. Certainly no time spent listening to him here on this show. Excitement about a catchphrase feels very very WWE. Tho, I was probably equally as excited about Roddy Strong yelling 'Adam' on the other channel. I really hope Rollins catches the jeers at Mania. Drew McIntyre is one of the best things going in wrestling today. I was ready to dig the Cody Rhodes promo from all the hoopla, and I'm a fan of a good Cody yarn, but I found this promo embarrassing. Not saying it wasn't effective to this audience tho. The shit spectacle of Candice Lerae and Maxine wasn't something I'm gonna complain about. 'So bad it was funny', no? Becky v Liv was pretty fun. Nice bump by Lynch. Goddamn, Rhea Ripley is incredible. What the fuck on the Buddy Matthews pic? I guess they know he's returning at some point. I can't stand shows centered around authority figures, but Aldis and Pearce are nicely toned down from what I know of this tired trope and pretty great at making the most of their minutes. I skimmed Priest v Truth. Priest is really great. Yeah, that bump to the outside from Truth was insane. The Gauntlet set-up was pretty excellent, and the best of current WWE - their production. The actual match was excellent too, but I do wonder - did they say how they determined the entries? Doesn't seem like the fairest of ways to determine a top contender. Gable v Sami was indeed excellent. No surprise. The JD v Riccochet portion isn't getting nearly as much attention for obvious reasons, but those two were incredible. Man, I wish Jonah would have stuck around in NJPW longer. They're trying to keep him relevant here, but he never seems to win. The Tsunami is one of the best looking moves in wrestling. Up there with Toni Storm's hip attack. I liked what I saw of this show, but I would not want to sit thru an actual 3 hour broadcast hearing all these terrible entrance themes, catchphrases, Rollins/Uso etc promos. Also, Michael Cole and McAfee are an excellent duo. I didn't see her on the show (maybe I forwarded by something), but Jackie Redmond is as good an interviewer as I've seen in pro wrestling. Cathy Kelley's pretty great too.

Jay Briscoe was one of my favorite performers of all time, but I'm not sure the shows would be a whole lot different with him. Maybe he and Mark would be featured similarily to Athena? I'm happy with Mark Briscoe's AEW run, and glad he's getting a chance to make some money and grow his career. A career trajectory I fully expect will lead to Main Events on PPV and national television. I was really excited about the launch of ROH. I was even more excited by the first 4 weeks in Orlando. Featuring new and old ROH performers, and the lost in the shuffle AEW mid to lower card. The touring version has certainly featured some fun stuff, but so often to dead crowds and empty houses. I saw good reason for the latter when I missed the first portion of the taping here in Toronto - they announced the start time as 730, but decided to start at 7. Further, they did nothing at the two tapings I saw to keep the Collision crowd afterwards. Ppl filed out right after Collision. Many with no idea the show was continuing. My biggest issue with this show and promotion, besides the relentless multi-person matches, is the total lack of Champions wrestling on the weekly show. It's especially alarming that ppl wearing ROH titles don't even appear on the show in promos. Further, with all due respect to Kingston, it doesn't quite feel like there's even a World Champion anymore. I get the impression that the current ROH is in placeholder mode until an actual TV deal is in place. That does raise some questions as to why they didn't take the CW deal. Maybe WBD adds an ROH show after the next deal? Feels unlikely. Ideally, they cancel Rampage-Baby in place of ROH Friday Night-Baby. Maybe even add an hour. What I do like about this show is the attention given to the Women's Division which has badly needed more camera time and reps. And in a less strenuous TV situation. Regardless of the success of said segments, I'm also pleased to see the wrestlers getting promo reps. Even if it has led to some of the worst promos I've ever seen (babyface Ethan Page take a bow).

Well, I can't LIKE this because I LIKE the move too much - as done by Danielson. If you'd indicated you were talking about Jon Moxley's version I'd give you the trophy. I'm very thankful Mox has stopped using it regularly. That said, I think you're totally right and I often think about those reasons during his matches, but then go back to loving it.

Re: Punk For every Watt, Ian, or Cosey Fanni Tutti there’s a backward gazing fascist racist homophobe in the name of punk. Or somebody freely expressing their inability to be kind and thoughtful. There’s also a glut of shitty bands adhering to a 3 chord formula in solidarity to some kind of ‘truth’. Not to say there aren’t good ones too - some of which are pretty self righteous as well. Punk is whatever you want it to be - good (creative, open to new ideas, often anti-norm) or bad (all forms of egotistical fascism). I’d also suggest for all the truly great punk rock the everlasting ‘tude led us into this hot take era - ignorance and all.

I’m hoping that somehow leads to Mercedes respecting Willow and giving her the rub and a new partner (after Stat’s sorta surprising heel turn). Not that a babyface match with that history is a bad idea. I just don’t want a heated feud with Willow that messes with her heat nor do I want her losing to anybody even the former NJPW champean. If you wanna book another loss to the lady in between wwe stints, as somebody that sees Willow as a potentially huge drawing star, I’d be good with that, but a loss is not even a booking sheet consideration. And for good reason$. I want a union that leads to a Mercedes turn well down the road. When Willowmania is fully established and there’s no chance of her being booed against MM.

I hope you’re still feeling Randy come Winnipeg. The catalog is deep especially when you bring Cummings into the mix. That said, a Guy Maddin reference, that wouldn’t likely have even semi-wide appeal, would be pretty outstanding. I love this card. I’m feeling like somebody sets their sights on the Mone. I suspect the Doctor might be in. Hoping and wishing for a Rebel by her side. Terribly interested to see how Joe defeats Wardy. What a great line-up!

I hope you see the other half of Anatomy. I loved poor things similarly, and in year of really excellent conscious films, poor things had some of the best messaging of all.

My vote goes to Angelico. Or Bryce Remsberg.

You're money and you don't even know it.

I really liked her as Aldis’ second during the early NWA power run. The few actual matches I saw with her were not particularly strong, but she was working greenhorns. I think she has potential.

Is Kamille confirmed?

In their current state I'll give you no argument, but they will Hopefully move on. When they do I know there's a few us who feel, at some point, that Anthony Bowens could potentially have something to offer as a singles. Caster too. He's greatly improved over the course of his time in AEW, and his charisma suggests it's way too early to write him off.

Lance Archer and Dutch. They've looked great together on ROH and, I think, Rampage-Baby. They just need to get Vincent to stand in the corner rather than the apron.

I really wish they'd send the Bears to New Japan for a year. The Jack Perry loan has me hoping for more. It's a great way to fine tune things and freshen up. I've often wondered what Private Quen and Isaiah Party would look like after some reps in New Japan rings. The Gates, for example, have looked a lot better since their Tag League run. Tho, they could use more time overseas. And New Japan clearly needs some fresh talent.

I like that workmanlike Dreamer look too. He ruined it later with polka dots and added flare, but the shirt and simple dark pants were perfect for that character. When Raven's t-shirt would get ripped off we could see he was in good enough shape to not wear it, but the shirts were kinda neat. When he later stopped wearing it his look wasn't nearly as effective, but that may be more the bad eyeliner etc.

Absofuckinutely! It's such a better presentation for him, and it matters. I just don't see him getting over with the audience at large in yellow spandex. Wrestlers without the million dollar physique shouldn't be afraid to look to ECW for costume inspiration. Like, would Raven or Sandman or New Jack etc etc gotten over displaying their physiques? The ROH back to the tights thing in the early 2000s was a huge mistake. I'm glad Kevin Steen figured that out.