Fighting a man with a perm

The stadium music guy at Arsenal continues to play WWE themes as the teams come out for the second half, Kurt Angles theme today as I shout "you suck" in time with at Granit Xhaka

Yeah, that was just lovely. Thought it was handled with great love and respect. Watched it at 7am Irish time and it got pretty dusty here, silver and Bryce in particular got me. Loved how much they included Brodie Jr but in a way that he seemed totally comfortable with. My heart goes out to his family, truly hope they are well looked after.

Truly awful news about Brodie Lee/Jon Huber. Had a soft spot for him from the first time I saw him in Chikara vids and (being a huge Kevin Smith fan) realising where he took his name from. Was loving his work in AEW. By all accounts a truly decent person,he will be missed.

Oh yeah, I loved their work on Watchmen and really loved Ross's work on Banshee (one of my favourite shows of the last 10 years), was just shocked by them working with Disney (and vice versa) ! Couldn't imagine, listening to Pretty Hate Machine, that that would ever happen.

Watched Soul last night, really enjoyed it. Some fun playing with animation styles, pulled at the heart strings just enough. Maybe not as many laugh out loud moments as some other Pixar flicks. But what left my mouth on the floor was the end credits, "original score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross" can't believe the guy who wrote "Starfuckers Inc" is now scoring Disney flicks, I feel very old!

I "liked" this, but as an Arsenal fan I did not like this (he says while hate watching the match against Man City)

Great chaotic vibe tonight. Nothing in AEW happens in a vacuum and that's what's so interesting about it. I mostly wanted to talk fashion, but have been well and truly beaten to that punch. Not enough love for Dark Order's cowboy hats with store tags still on them though ?? The first Orange Punch that connected with MJF made a beautiful, satisfying sound. So good! Loved Miro looking like an absolute monster, more of this please! Was the bit between 10 and Aaron Solow at ringside a continuation from Dark? Well that's just lovely!

New Silver sales pitch, "Just some buff dudes, hanging out drinking together, probably getting into some fights with guys and arguing about who's the best kisser, while filled with existential dread"

This x1,000,000. Its one of those things I find infuriating about American TV in general is the amount of recaps. I don't feel like AEW is insulting my intelligence by treating me like a goldfish, "did you see this 5 minutes ago? Forgot it already ya dummu, didn't ya?" 100% agree on this. Get a good story out of this and that's enough surely. Loved the Hangman/DO interactions in the battle Royal. Dark Order seem to be having a lot more fun since Brodie left, I could defo see DO taking Hangman in and when Bridie comes back all angry, Hangman leads the revolt for the big DO face turn to lead the charge against Kenny and new pals. The one shot of Hangman being carried by DO was just really well done! Loved the chaotic vibe of the whole show, lots of fun stuff and plenty of little markers for future fun stuff too. Happy out.

Give me ZSJ vs Angelico in a battle of the bendy submission men. Just a tangle of long limbs getting twisted for 30 minutes.

See, Hangman was my first thought too. Purely because he's been conspicuous by his absence since Full Gear. I love Butchers look so much, I don't care if he gets blown up 5 minutes in, the dude just draws the eye. From the neck down Blade looked very Rollins-esque in the long pleather. Top Flight looked a lot more hurty and less silly in one night than Private Party have managed in over a year. Good stuff from them, very promising.

On Darby, and I've noticed this a few times with Darby in particular, why did they play his music when he came down from the crowd? Surely Darby sprinting down the stairs and just appearing in ring to make the save would have been more impactful? Don't get me wrong, I love Darby's music but that delay between music starting and wrestler appearing can take me out of a moment.

Enjoyed that immensely. With the exception of Hardy over Sammy every result either went the way I wanted it (OC, Shida, MJF, Darby) or I understood and could see the storyline reasons for going the other way. Some things I loved and haven't seen mentioned: sad Hangman lurking in the tunnel MJFs light up robe "now that's what I call a squash job" Sammy running away from things Silver ripping out OC's pockets Silver's 1 arm gorilla press slam ?

I could imagine a huge "Johnny Hungie *clap clap clap clap clap*" breaking out during his shine spot in the 4 way tag match alright.

John Silver's "Buffalo Bill" on this week's BTE will haunt my dreams. Half expected Reynolds to not get the reference and earnestly respond "yes" to the "would you f*** me?" bit.

What was up with Jake during Archers attack on Mox backstage? He kept holding out his waistcoat as though to say, "Lance would you help me to dress myself? "

Watched this on FITE app, sound was odd throughout (sped up or something since everyone's voice went up an octave). Also think it's missing some segments since it's only 94 mins long and I didn't see the hangman backstage bit. Good show, agreed with others that the story progression was better than the in ring. The Swole match was not pretty! Loving dark order and the continuing turmoil of Colt Cabana. Alan Angels getting to show some personality. Its starting to click for them now. Santana and Ortiz had a great promo, nice set up for the Battle Royale with Starks-All in, Cage-Archer plus Eddie Kingston and friends. Would have liked to see Kenny Omega tonight involved in the Hangman story. Sammy-Matt had plenty of blood and the right person won, but along with Dustin I'm not sure Matt, as he is now, can go-go-go the way the house style tends to demand in AEW.

I genuinely did a double take thinking Edge had dyed his hair when I saw this photo.

That's exactly the spot I was thinking of! ?

That final match/segment was awesome. Had looked up for a second after the lariat expecting Cody to kick out. Did not see the win coming that quickly or decisively even though I had an inkling Lee might win. His jacket tonight was a big improvement on the old robe, better fitting - he looks boss! When Brandi came out I wondered would Brodie lay hands on her, glad to see Anna Jay get a chance to shine instead. All aboard the Dark Order train, thought Silver, Reynolds and Angels all put in good showings too. Speaking of which, I'm intrigued by Kenny Omega. I really see him joining forces with FTR leaving Hangman to reluctantly team with the Bucks going forward. The story between all 3 teams is really being played well. Future looks bright in AEW with some nice recent acquisitions, both King and Starks had some quality promos and think Starks - Allin could be a really good match. I could do with less Natural Nightmares, they don't do anything for me. QT looks bemused out there and doesn't sell well. Dustins destroyer looked very sloppy, he shouldn't be wrestling these high tempo matches. MIMOSA MAYHEM BAY-BAY!!! This could be brilliant or terrible with nothing in between. The video hyping it was hilarious.

Bit of a come down after last week's show. Was let down by the main event which is a pity as I've been loving the feud and they're 2 of my absolute faves in AEW. Throwing the "will he, won't he" referee angle didn't work for me. Maybe if they'd made more of a deal out of the Inner Circle being banned from ringside, and talking up the wily veteran and master strategist that Jericho is would have helped. Really glad OC got his big win, but felt flat with the rushed ending. The tag team appreciation bit dragged. Could see FTR using the knee brace to attack almost immediately, but I did think that Spears was going to get involved. The aftermath was weird as well with the Bucks selling confusion rather than anger. Sometimes Jungle Boys offense has me really worried about his neck, like the weird knee bump off Luchasaurus' shoulders to a flip. That didn't leave him much space to rotate. I did enjoy his falling clothesline to Omega sitting down. I want to see more of those vicious moves from him because he brings real energy to them. Uno's gear is weird, and there's no link between his gear and Grayson's but I really enjoy them as a team. Their match with the Bucks was my favourite this week. Stu Grayson is a maniac! Bravo to whoever spotted the MJF - Samoa Joe call back. I like that Moxley isn't made to look an idiot and just outsmarted MJF. I found the tender way that Wardlow held MJF's hand afterwards both touching and hilarious. Eeeugghh - I hate Cody's entourage, especially for a minimal build against someone whose wins have come on Dark. Also, the door gimmick for Sky made no sense, he kicked it out from the side that was "no admittance" meaning he was already where he wasn't supposed to be ?

I laughed so hard at "and FUCKING barbecue sauce!".

Well that was all lovely. Loved how things wove together and just flowed: dark order winning the 12 man led the Braver boys to think it was their night; the set up of Sue's minivan to the match to the vandalism and then the revenge promo (also ties into Best Friends saving OC); Mox promo to MJF promo to MJF interference. Just simple effective stuff. I feared the debate but it was a delight. My intelligence never once felt insulted. Great night for wild bumps - Stu Grayson and Darby both with some serious air time tonight.

Just finished the show. As @Godfrey rightly points out, Starks should get a nice little bonus for the skateboard shot because that looked all kinds of nasty. Cage looked impressive, the Mox/Darby catch looked great! Agreed with @RolandTHTG about Taz on commentary. Loved how naturally he flicked between Taz the manager and Taz the commentator ("I'm trying to be professional here")

I'm about halfway through the show so far. Some things I liked: There's 4 potential feuds in the opening match (jericho/oc, best friends/PNP, Lucha/hager and most intriguingly sammy/JB) that would deliver. So why is Matt Hardy involved? Did enjoy sammys reaction though. Sammy has a perfect "oh shit" face when he gets himself in trouble like landing in the middle of 5 opponents. "smells like cat pee, Tony" - love that Ortiz! I dig Warhorse's character. Can't say I've seen him wrestle but I like that he sticks to the headbanging Mid-match. Small things like that make me smile. Plus he looks a lot like Bobcat Goldthwait to me, which adds to it. Arn joining up with FTR was unexpected. Presumed Tully would have joined there. Page made that segment! Tag title match was good stuff, the Grayson dive over the top looked unique as hell. He has something about him. If Ciampa can be a big star in NXT, think Stu has a role to play. Big laugh from the moment I saw the papers in Brodies hand ? Look, JR ain't my cup of tea but he was really bad tonight (to my tastes). Not least his weird comments about Anna Jay, and his rant about Covid, "look I have my mask" like a petulant child. He's detracting from the product for me. Sad, because I loved his calls when I was younger.