Nineteen

The casino four way was loads of fun. I like that it acknowledges that there really isn't a difference between the #1 and 2 spots in these kinda matches. Probably the smallest gripe I can have about the Royal Rumble is that the #1 spot is always touted as this absolute mountain to overcome when the second entrant pretty much has to do the same thing. I was wondering too if Max lost that match, how would Mark feel about having that shirt made and not being able to do anything with it? Part of me really thought Mina was gonna win to set up Mercedes winning at Texas. Speaking of that weekend, I got so hyped for Takeshita and Bandido only to realize it's on the night before. Not that I've watched RoH since AEW took it over but that match sounds like a total banger. Was surprised Okada won clean but it was a nice reminder that the Rainmaker has been a killshot since he came to AEW. If Okada wins I'm definitely looking forward to some Golden Lovers tag matches, say vs. Hurt Business or FTR. -Edit- Pink Pony Club was my pride month anthem this year. As someone who figured out shit well into adulthood, it took me back to being a confused and feel like I listened to that song for that younger me, "Hey, you'll find your place and your people someday. They're out there."

Really loved Jey's entrance with the Yeet flags. Jey and Gunther was fine.... feels like way less of a deal when Gunther dropped the IC title last year. I think they did an okay job really getting people behind Jey (the Jimmy beat down, the "I'm not afraid of you promo" which was one of his best promos ever). I like Jey enough but not sure he's ready to be "the guy." But there are times I'm like okay... let's give him a shot and see how he does. Me my friends who were over couldn't get the past video game tie in for the War Raiders. I completely forgot about Naomi and Jade for the rest of the night until the recap during the main. That powerbomb Jade did was really cool though, like that could be a really awesome finish for Jade. I was hoping Jacob and Knight would just be a complete squash for Jacob to really have a moment. The match was good and he dominated but it felt like that could have been a great star making thing to do for him. I hope WWE realizes what they have in him. Americano/Fenix might be MOTN for me, really glad Tiffy won. Also, two years after it was relevant but the Barbie entrance for Tiffy was great too. The Heyman, um.. turn? Switch? was really well done. He was just so overdoing it handing the chair to Roman and I was like... this is Heyman, who just turned on someone very important to him... and Roman, who is suspicious of everyone... isn't suspicious right now? Playing into Roman obsession with Seth did to him to break up the Shield and costing him last year was wonderful though. Showing the Samoan lineage on the screens during Roman's entrance was cool but there was one shot that looked down the aisle from the ring where it kept showing... Rikishi.... Solid enough night of wrestling but outside the main it really didn't feel like wrestlemania. One of my friends who was over called the show "about on par with a really good episode of Dynamite" and that worked for me. I have a little higher hopes for tonight and it does feel like the entire weekend is devoted to Cena and Cody.

I'll thrown Shawn's in if we're putting together a holy trinity. There was something really graceful about his especially the further away his opponent was.

I remember posting something elsewhere like.... Sting finally gets to WWE at Survivor Series because he sees the Authority as what the nWo did and he can't allow that to happen again but instead the program gets shifted to the last gasp of WCW making it to WWE even though the Invasion ended so, so, so, long ago... and then his run in help is... the same group he compared to the evil he showed up to fight..... At least his AEW run was cool

Man I really loved that Rock/Cody segment last night. Cody took away Rock/Roman and Rock can probably just challenge him for the title, but as someone in such a powerful position, maybe it's more gratifying to just turn Cody into something he can control. Afterall, Cody used "people power" (against the former people's champion" to stop "what's best for business." I mean also... Cody is coming up on a year as the man that temptation could play into how awesome of a heel Cody can be. (I don't think we're gonna get corporate Cody but the idea of bringing back Bernard the Business Bear, c'mon!) Every time Rock shows up, it feels like there's so many avenues it can go down. Not many people can control a crowd like he can either. Rock being around whenever his schedule allows is a net good for pro wrestling, and I'm sure he'd say "hey anyway, it's okay, you're welcome."

It's the way the other guys deliver it too. The Coup De Grace and Ki's version, they're aiming for the gut and the magic trick is whoever is taking it crosses their arms to take the brunt of it. You can't really do that when the other guy is aiming for your head. Swerve's options then seem to be switch it to the stomach version or just..... not do the move that doesn't look great. At least he's got Big Pressure now and seems to be relying on that more to finish matches.

One of her finest moments was the time she made Izzie cry

What are the odds the Grand Slam match is Toni as Mariah and Mariah bringing back Tiny Storm? I know it won't happen but I'm totally down for Dustin beating the absolute shit out of Max for that one..... Harley having the puppet talk behind Mercedes while she was saying her bit , -chef's kiss-. Ditto Harley and Rene doing the CEO dance on Collision with the puppet too. I really want Mercedes to wrestle the puppet like a Yoshihiko match in the future. So Swerve's finish is jumping off the rope crotch first and it took someone this long to figure out THAT as a counter.... Okay so I'm a bit of an RoH oldhead and I'm not the biggest fan of Swerve but I do love Nana and when the (Nana voice) Jimmy Rave (you fools!) robe makes an appearance for the big matches. When Ricochet took it my heart sank at the possibility of Ricochet taking the scissors to it, especially with Excalibur pointing out that robe's history going back to the OG Embassy. Angry at the world Hangman might be the best version of Hangman. I need to start wearing my Anxious Millennial Cowboy shirt again. Given what the Death Riders do to people backstage did anyone else assume the worst for Rene when Marina grabbed her at the beginning?

Gonna be hard to live in a post Acclaimed world. I don't really know Bowens and Castor will fare without each other too. I guess Castor as a part of Hurt Syndicate could be interesting and Bowens could make a great singles face. Max and Roddy was fun, even if I'm really not a fan of this storyline. I am curious to see how Adam and Kyle's relationship goes based on their interaction this week. Wondering if Max sets up more roadblocks for Adam to get him at World's End. Mercedes and Kris Stat was a blast, probably my MotN. Easily Mone's best match since getting here and Kris's best match in a while. Really loved Ospreay and Fletcher too. Happy for Danny, and Lashley winning was totally the right call too. Anyone know what's up with Cedric these days? I'd love to see the full group back together. Friend I watched the show with was making fun of HS's theme big time too. I really, really wanted OC to win but figured it wasn't happening. The ending... I get that it set up some stuff but it was a little much. I guess Darby's appearance was there to send the crowd home on as a high note as it could have been.

Crazy for a show that had the returns of MJF and Adam Cole*," bangers in Willow/Mariah, Hanger/Switchblade, Hologram/Mortos, and Bucks/Private Party, a really exciting tease for Swerve vs. Shelton down the line that the lasting image of the show is..... that I've been kind of less invested in AEW recently I think this show sold. The Empire Strikes Back is such an apt descriptor for this. Aew, motherfucking world, etc. *(bay bay....)

Hangman did nothing wrong.

That gets Luchasaurus to holding 3 belts now - Tag, Trios, TNT and Christian to two (TNT, Trios) Yikes, I'm not sure what they're doing with Skye these days (So... she's just good again?) but hope that's not too serious.

Kind of figured Swerve and Okada weren't going to have an actual finish but was fun while it lasted Around the 40 minute mark of Max/Ospreay I was telling myself "okay, this is going 60" but having the last minute finish was a great surprise. This sets up a few things for Wembley, either a rematch or Max vs. Garcia. If it is Max. vs. Garcia wondering where that leaves Will. Glad we're finally getting Suzuki vs. Jericho but was hoping that would be at All In. The King deserves a Wembley sized KAZE NI NARE~ Okada's crush on Mercedes is so great

I think with the other three, there's still this sense of loss. The openings to the Bo and Rowan videos were very.... therapy style questions, "how are you doing these days." I know that Rhea kind of organically transitioned to being a face but like... Liv totally shouldn't feel like the heel here. She was betrayed and Rhea did kind of manipulate Dom to turn on his dad. And there was that "you belong to me line" near the end of the night too. Really liked GUNTHER's promo there and it has me totally rooting for Priest now.

I think Drew/Punk is the perfect Walter Sobchak program, "You're not wrong, you're just assholes...." Cody Rhodes was 38 years old...... Dammit, wish I knew sooner Smackdown is at MSG next week, I totally would have gone but have another obligation. Punk spending the night at a "HOSPITAL?!" Really liked the finish to the women's match, I know the finish itself has been done but it's a perfect way for Chelsea to get in. Wondering if Jade gets to set some friction with Bianca.

"GUERILLA WARFARE HAS ARRIVED" "DESTINY HAS BROUGHT HIM HERE" That was... ridiculously cute. Totally hyped for what I'm hoping is the inevitable Usos vs. GoD match. That street fight was loads of fun too. The crowd singing Orton's theme, can't believe they kept that energy all night too. Stratton vs. Bayley vs. Naomi was great too. I've hated the Alabama Slam for reasons that are petty and old but I really dig Tiffy's cartwheel into it. Cody/AJ totally delivered too, all around great great great show

Loved loved loved that theater piece before the main. It's showtime..... Thank you, Sting.

That closing was wonderful. Cody, Rock, and Roman were all killing it for their roles. I like how Rock has this entitlement of where his family is that he just gets to walk on in and Roman siding with him for the glory. Or maybe Roman knows Cody had him last year and this isn't an in his prime Rock so he's got the better chance. I love all these little unspokens here. If I can quibble though... wow, The Rock knows what wikipedia is. It is literally that tree against a new graphic...tree. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anoaʻi_family#Anoaʻi_family_tree

Really great episode. The crowd totally wants to get behind Swerve but are we forgetting he cheated in the first match and broke into Hanger's home to threaten his family? 3 way should be lit though. Totally missed it until I saw the screenshot but the graphic for Big Business read "Bo$$ton." When AEW launched my wish list for talent to be there was Claudio, FTR, and her.... can't believe I actually got all of them. BCC vs. CMLL guys was loads of fun. Claudio vs. smaller flippy dudes is one of the best versions of Claudio. If the Bucks don't end the Revolution match with "I'm sorry, I love you," what are we even doing? Also, I popped for it being the EVP trigger now.

I'm not 100% convinced that Cody challenges Seth instead. That promo made it sound like he wasn't going for Seth instead but that he was just waiting. Maybe sitting on the title shot until Summerslam I'm thinking too that man, Priest having MitB is like an afterthought to an afterthought these days

Okay..... It totally should have been Roller Cod-ster's moment at 'mania But I popped huge for Dwayne....

Figured it would be Darby vs. Sting for the last match but.... there's still plenty of time to establish a decent build for why the Bucks want this match but with so much time out wondering if this is a smoke screen for something else. Hanger, Swerve, and Wardlow is a nice run of challengers for Joe after he gets past Hook. I'm pretty excited for that match next week too. Shout out to Hook's Bat Signal too, I hope that's a regular thing. "That sounds Italian," Toni Storm forever, my dudes. I get they wanted to do something for Brodie but uhhh... Preston and Anna both turned their backs on Dark Order. Why not just go with Silver and Reynolds? I felt weird seeing Julia in that kind of big match too. House of Black feels like the kind of stable that shouldn't be teaming with anyone outside of it (I'll give a pass to Julia and Skye since there's at least a story there).

If we don't get E&C vs. the Hardys in a Hardy Compound match, we have failed as a species.

Swerve is up 2-0 on Hangman and he said that this is far from over. With the Acclaimed and BBG going after Cole's group Hangman needs... something so I'm okay with getting round 3 already. Cole really hit that "heel making solid points" promo given Max's history. Don't know if I want a retread of UE now UK holding all the belts but this is a pretty cool faction with some great matches lined up. DEONNA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Swerve was part of a fucked up submission on the table spot. Saraya gets to say it's her house again. Darby/Takeshita was... holy smokes, AEW rules.

That happened too he took his hiatus after DoN 2022