Fighting a man with a perm

I can't complain about a Marvel show giving me Olivia Colman! She absolutely elevates this show even in small doses! My concern for this show is the whole "anyone can be anyone" theme can lead to a sense of constantly waiting for the Scooby Doo mask reveal, thereby removing the sense of peril or emotion (the last scene for example). Be interesting to see how they manage this.

Different strokes for different folks and all, but for me the commentary was actively detracting from my enjoyment of the show. I dig Excalibur, and love the team of him, Tazz and Tony. Ex expounds on the stories we're watching, Tazz provides the technical insight (and some Jones' and yambags), while Tony provides the enthusiasm - lovely balance. If a different team was required, Riccaboni and Caprice are right there and I think they're an excellent team too. Really felt the show was missing something, that je ne said quoi. The Buddy Andrade match was dope, but I think the wrong man won. Christian celebrating was great and that camera shot looked vicious but that match was not good and Wardlow has lost his aura rapidly. Nice to see Willow and Skye get s big win. Juice and Switchblade's shit talking was a highlight of the main for me. One of the things I like about MJF is his "oh shit!" when he's sent up for a big move, and Juice had a few of those, as well as a manic "aha!" As he floated into a cover - he's really growing on me. For those with a better knowledge of wrestling history than I - could anyone shed some light on Punk's elbow pad? It wasn't matching his colour scheme and he seemed to make a deal of showing it early on.

Big disagree with you (and your mother, sorry!). Those boots are incredible, like something Vince Noir would wear in the Mighty Boosh and sit perfectly with Jericho's faded rock idol/Rex Manning esque character. Did anyone else see the word No appear on screen during the 8 man? Intriguing.

Just jumping in to say my absolute highlight of the show was Trent going full Secret Service to take the bullet (and elimination) for OC thus proving once again that they are the BEST friends for good reason.

Claudio Rey was so enjoyable. Claudio's new gear looks great, he's a star! These two mesh so well and their strengths complement each other and they both upped their game as a result, loved it! Even with some flubbed lines, Christian had that crowd in the palm of his hand, bravo! Dax on the other hand, I just don't dig his mic work at all. Way too much , "ok, ok, ok, just a minute now" or "alright, alright, alright, hold on now" as verbal crutches. And the constant use of "our best friend" around Mark Briscoe makes me want to see Mark brain him with a chair. Orange Cassidy is always the highlight of my wrestling week. The man is so far above everyone else in terms of storytelling, entertainment and character work. Garcia brought his working boots. His new entrance theme works well with his "freaky, uncomfortable dancing" as Taz would put it. Love when Best Friends are given mic time to just be themselves, bummed that Chucky T is the designated pin in all their matches. Brody King is truly King-sized! Love the presentation with the darkened arena, feels more "fight club"-esque. Mox - Omega is the top matchup in AEW. They can't have a bad match. Kenny's leg could have been badly injured in the cage collapse, scary stuff! With Callis out of the way, is the path to Kenny and Hangman reuniting now clear?

Yeah, group me with the animal lovers turning to blubbering messes. Had to go straight to the "lair" (the spare bed above our home office) of my cat, Bowie Bang Bang (named for Ziggy Stardust himself and for Rinko Kikuchi's character in the Brothers Bloom) and give him a big old fussing behind the ears after seeing this. Really, really loved this movie. The laughs are real, the sobs are real, the running beats you know will pay off (bad dog) get paid off in a satisfying way, and of course the soundtrack is just great.

RIP Dean and condolences to all who loved him. His posts exuded joy, and that's a wonderful thing to put out into the world

For any RuPaul's Drag Race fans on the board - picture Mistress declaring she's in her "undisputed era"

I've got conflicting feelings on this show. Swerve/Darby and OC/Buddy were two absolute top notch matches. Cutler with a mask full of blood - great! Kenny with a great promo. Ethan Page with a great promo. All good stuff. But...... Both Darby and OC winning with their tricky pin maneuvers in the same show wasn't great planning. Matt Hardy initially says he and PP are free of the firm but then it's suddenly they have a match with the firm to win their freedom?!?! Kenny and the Bucks leaving their friends to be slaughtered, plus Mox just hanging around in the corner for far too long. Jamie makes the (unsuccessful) save on her own, followed 40 seconds by Britt with the successful save? Kinda makes the champ look chumpish? Add to that some general feelings of repetition - long MJF promo (general theme, "oh ain't I so evil"); outcasts beatdown followed by someone running out. Eh, just feel some of the non-wrestling stuff could be paced better/differentiated more I suppose. Still enjoyed the bell to bell stuff though.

The "jezebel" count was ridiculously high tonight. Seriously, can someone just put a muzzle on JR during women's matches...and what was up with the ringside cameraman during both women's matches? at times I thought he was going to zoom right up their small intestines. OC continues to be a highlight every week, the man just operates on a transcendent level! Darby is equally adept at making every match unique while being uniquely Darby. Build around those 2 lads! Looking forward to OC/Matthews and maybe Cutler putting in an Evil Uno-esque performance standing up to BCC.

That chap strikes me as someone who definitely pays for Twitter Blue. Switchblade's been working on that main event body! Where does this leave Juice because he seems very much the third wheel in this rivalry now. Spooky HOB don't really do it for me. Violent metal-head HOB on the other hand! I was practically headbanging along to the PiP beating they were putting on the Best Friends. Count me amongst those skipping MJF segments, awful stuff (but I will admit to enjoying him asking the crowd to stop heckling the politician). AMATEUR! Yeah, that's gonna be popping randomly into my head for the next week. The Gunn's swank-as-fuck entrance had me thinking they were going over, and they had me multiple times during the match. Good stuff. Those Ass Boys are slowly maturing into Ass Men.

Lot of music changes this episode: Claudio's theme is now just the classical 1812 overture; Kenny reverting to his NJPW theme (maybe due to defending NJPW title); Daniel Garcia tune change also. Odd to have that many in one episode since entrance themes are such a huge part of a wrestlers presentation. This is also why I hate how much House of Black chop and change their entrance themes (don't get me wrong, I love all of them, especially some God's Hate) but that lack of consistency bugs me. Still think Takeshita with Callis joins BCC, so who do Elite plus Hanger pick as 5th man, ibushi?

Orange Cassidy! The man can have great matches with anyone. He can tell a story in-ring better than almost anyone. He is still relatively young working a style that will allow him go for years. He is as over as anyone else. He's versatile AF, can do pretty much any type of match you want. Added bonus - no 20 minute promos from this Champ to open Dynamite. Here we go baby!

Looking at the replies to that tweet and the fact that almost all of the tweets talking about what a legend/GOAT etc MJF is come from accounts that have paid for Twitter blue........this confirms all my preconceptions about the men who go to AEW shows with Burberry scarves and cheer MJF

Lethal really committed to the failed handspring, kudos to him! Really can't understand the people doing "let's go lethal" "lethal sucks" chants. Do they just love duelling chants and want any opportunity to do them? It's not like Jay lethal is some cool heel up against a stale or force-fed Babyface. Is it just contrarianism? Daddy magic was so good during the HOB/Elite segment, screaming "I don't like the dark" when the lights went out, "I'll take callis! I want a piece of Callis". Dante martin moving into chubby luchador territory is it? Could be a great way to differentiate from his brother.

Because EVERYBODY loves the Acclaim

Between that and the same song featuring in the new season of RuPaul's Drag Race, it was quite the weekend for seeing Dolores' work in unusual locations.

Gotta agree on the comments about the content of some AEW promos. Stuff like Action Andretti using a low blow from Tay as rationale for "Sammy can't control his woman". Fuck me! The only people who think women should be controlled are too busy tweeting at teenage climate activist and being arrested in Romania to be watching AEW. Maybe this has been noted before, but I can't take Juice Robinson seriously at all because I just see and hear Will Forte whenever he cuts a promo. Loved the in-ring this week, nice mix of styles and paces. It's the variety that I enjoy most in AEW. I'm really looking forward to Rampage for KOTBT vs Eddie/Ortiz. Hoping for that swank God's Hate entrance song too

Quickest route to getting Conor McGregor into WWE

Orange Cassidy is my wrestler of the year. The guy is so clued into his character, and finds story beats in every match that make sense for both him and his opponent. The match with Hager felt like I was watching Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin or even Jackie Chan in terms of his ability to tell a story and make me laugh with his body and his movement. And to do that with Jake Hager of all people! (Kudos to Jake though for embracing the silliness of the hat gimmick and committing to it).

Please keep McGregor far, far away from AEW. Mike Tyson was bad enough, but at least he served some time for his offence, whereas Conor bribed, threatened (with help from his Kinahan pals) and used Ireland's archaic libel laws to go after his victims. To paraphrase the poster I'm quoting, "Fuck Conor McGregor!"

I expect anyone's qualms about the Swerve segment to be completely assuaged this Wednesday at the Daddy Ass Birthday Bash. "Scissor me Daddy Ass!" Billy looks at his mangled fingers with revulsion as the dawning realization that he can scissor no more hits him like a runaway Keith Lee. It's gonna be heartbreaking!

Just a small note on the commentary team tonight: the way Taz and Excalibur showed genuine concern for Schiavone, asking was he ok and did he need attention in a very low key way really added to the impact of the moment. Avoiding hyperbolic, "that diabolical MJF" type diatribes in favour of checking up on your beloved colleague is so much more resonant. Excalibur and Taz feel like real people on commentary and that adds so much to the presentation.

Regal's talk of "disco biscuits" took me back to getting drug safety talks from my then 60 year old teacher, Mr Landers, who would always warn us of the dangers of disco biscuits and red headed women.

After watching the first episode my major takeaway is disappointment that She Hulk is not being played by Ilana Glazer, especially for the mid credit scene