Krone Meltzer

I think it's about time we start having some serious talks about Daddy Magic and his promos. This man is a red hot chili pepper when it comes to selling matches.

Is the Iowa game over yet?

Pandemonium in Boone after App St. wins on a last second hail mary. College football; just can't replicate it.

You sure did, because the Dome hasn't been bumping in ages. I swear I'll make the 45 minute trek for one of the games this year, especially if they keep giving me hope like they have lately. I think even Del-Rio Wilson could be a great QB for them in the future. Only took Babers 7 years, but he might finally be changing the culture.

We can thank the refs and an undisciplined Purdue team today, not gonna lie. Easily the best Syracuse game I've ever seen. Sean Tucker was rendered useless and hasn't done much to replicate his performance last season (which would be hard to do anyways) but still had a couple of good plays. The defense held strong when they needed to, but I'll be damned if the last eight minutes of that game didn't age me by 10 years. Thrilled to finally be off to a good start and a potential College Gameday matchup with NC State looming on the horizon.

Easy one here, Jericho Cruise. Really wish they would bring that back. Loved that atmosphere.

The more and more stuff keeps coming out (Parekh, CD going to Punk's locker room with the Young Bucks/the door not being "kicked down") the more I want to side with the Elite here. It is kind of ironic that Punk's all "HEY COME TALK TO ME" and then people do confront him and he get's all red assed. That's what it seems like to me. Like he thought nobody would actually take him up on his offer and when some people did - he probably didn't even know how to handle it. Let's be honest, CM Punk is a very big name in the scope of pro wrestling, but the guy tries to act like he's Hulk Hogan. "That doesn't work for me brother" towards a potential Hangman Page loss is a little ridiculous in the year 2022. I wonder who carries that type of gravitas in WWE; probably only Brock Lesnar and even then I bet he's a guy who's down to do business.

THIS is part of what has CM Punk in a tizzy?! Hangman didn't even do anything. Seems like someone wanting a burr in their ass for no reason.

I try to give you guys the breaking news about CM Punk and what do I do...... I get shit on. Fo wut!?

CM Punk has done no favors for himself with his dialogue. All I could think watching that last night was how much of an asshole Punk was/is for his comments. This is the same guy who said he wouldn't put over Hangman Page - the one guy you could argue they helped build the promotion around. Chances are, if enough people keep saying you're an asshole, you are indeed the asshole. Punk is reaching Hogan levels of "I control what goes on around here, brother" and it's kind of... annoying? When he wasn't even there day one while guys like Omega, Hangman, and the Bucks were building this promotion to get it to a point where Punk would even want to come back and wrestle.

That UNC/App St game was some bonkers football. Told my buddies to wait a few minutes for the end of the game, which ended up taking 35 minutes. Syracuse looked like world beaters against Louisville despite a LOT (and I mean a lot) of false start calls. Shrader was slinging the ball well and his legs were making some big time plays. Hoping the easy schedule upcoming leads us to a big showdown with NC State on the horizon.

I saw someone a page or two back talk about elevating Andrade, Malakai and those guys up to the main event scene - which would be more than refreshing. However, what about the next batch of talent? You want to talk about a hierarchy in AEW, this is about how I judge it. Main Eventers - Kenny Omega, Chris Jericho, Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Jon Moxley, Hangman Page, MJF Next In Line - Andrade, Miro, Malakai Black, Adam Cole(?), PAC Gonna Wait a While - Jungle Boy, Ricky Starks, Sammy Guevara, Darby Allin It's so log jammed at the top that... I just don't see when some of these guys are going to be in the main event scene. They're gonna have to wait for Punk, Jericho, Danielson, etc to retire before getting bumped up? And there are even some names I didn't put on the list like Keith Lee, Powerhouse, Wardlow. Where do you put everyone? When I look at the AEW roster, it looks like 10% main eventers, 80% upper midcarders, and then 10% jobbers. 76 wrestlers have a winning record in 2022 17 wrestlers have a losing record in 2022 (counting managers [Mark Sterling]) Isn't it hard to draw definitive lines of where people are on the card when everyone is booked as a winner?

...

I can thank my lucky stars that Clash at the Castle is in the afternoon, because for some reason the ACC gods thought it would be a good idea to put Cuse/Louisville on in primetime! Fully expecting the beginning of Sean Tucker's Heisman campaign, because, well we don't have much else going for us.

Love that we drafted him right before Justin Jefferson /s Now they get to play together, how cute.

I really hope Ricky Starks gets a nice push over the course of the next year up into the main event scene, because I would like to see some "AEW originals" if you will push their way into the top. It's nice to have CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Adam Cole, etc. on your roster, but do not let it stunt the growth of the performers who could be the stars of tomorrow. I just don't want them to wait too long while someone's hand is hot by trying to appease to the other big names they've brought in. A main event scene with MJF, Ricky Starks, Darby Allin, Jungle Boy, etc excites me more than the current one we're at. I'm not bashing it, but I'm ready for some of these guys to really get a push up into superstardom if you will.

I think what he's saying is that 24 hours ago they changed the option from you having to buy a combo pack (Dynamite, Rampage, and All Out) to just being able to buy an All Out ticket. 800 tickets were remaining when they changed it to just a single ticket buying option, and when they did that they only sold 100 more tickets. Now this is just my interpretation, but matt is saying that this doesn't look good for AEW because this isn't even a full NBA or NHL arena they're trying to sell out. It's smaller, which should in turn make it easier. Edit - Damn, we posted at the same time. I should've just kept my mouth shut -_-

I can't disagree, Britt vs. Jake Hager does sound pretty damn interesting. I'd love to see him writhing in the Lock Jaw.

Spoilers from Rampage that could pertain to All Out

FWIW Tony Khan liked that tweet, so make of it what you will.

www.twitch.tv/aewgames Showing off gameplay for Fight Forever right now (ft. Colt Cabana and Evil Uno). Uno also said they will have some matches at the venue this weekend, marking it as the first AEW matches on European soil! Wonder if they count towards the records.

I thought the reason signs went away was because cell phones became popular and people can't hold a sign and a cell phone at the same time (I mean you could, but it may be a little difficult). Probably also coupled with the fact that wrestling isn't "pop culture cool" anymore so people don't think their buddy and their buddies buddy are all watching to see the sign.

We are also talking about the World champion of a promotion though, and it's not just any person - it's CM Punk who's been known to stir up trouble. If this were about Luchasaurus or someone, sure I'd agree with you. However, if the reports are true and Punk isn't willing to put over Hangman Page and goes as far as to call him out on TV and make his character look "weak" in an unplanned spot I'd say that's a big deal. That's AEWs first real "homegrown" champion in Hangman mind you. I'd like to think that carries a little credence in the AEW lore.