Nineteen

I wish I could remember the full quote but I think after "God, I know you keep trying but I'm still here" nobody else on that list should be a surprise

I think NXT being demoted back to development from "It's the third brand, we swear" hurt it a bit too. Bayley and Sasha not being able to follow up on saying they were gonna bring the belts there occasionally had loads of potential and felt like a more organic way of getting main roster people there as opposed to HEY EVERYONE, YOU WANT TO SEE CHARLOTTE. WE'RE NOT ASKING. man.... now I'm sad about NXT again

Every time Cole used to say "Some would say Paige started the Divas revolution" I always heard the Mooninites "Some would say the Earth is our moon...." When AEW launched I had a short list of people I desperately wanted there (Her, Revival, and Claudio/Cesaro) but until the booking in that division improves... like I'd love to see here there but it's hard to imagine her being "The Boss" there. I just feel like she'd have the big debut like Athena or Ruby then.... maybe pop up on Rampage once a month?

I popped for The People's Court music and I want an Judge Wapner is All Elite banner. A lot of cool surprises, i thought for sure it would have been a Best Friends/Chaos/FTR vs. United Empire 10 man but OC vs. Will sounds great. Thought OC vs. Yano was the lay up but this should rule! FTR vs. The Bucks to unify the belts in a rubber match perhaps? Totally intrigued for how their setting up whoever is gonna challenge Jay for the IWGP belt. With less than two weeks to go thought they'd have more announced by now but Kingston in the ring with Suzuki again is gonna ruuuuuule! Man we couldn't get one Baka-hashi from Jericho tonight? That segment was a such a cluster but when you have 10 days to announce X amount of matches I guess you gotta be economical. I think Jericho mentioned wanting Suzuki at WrestleKingdom so maybe we get some seeds.

Enough that he thought had had a chance against Lesnar? Even if not for the ability at least the sheer chutzpah of it

The whole "I wasn't my fault" thing was weirdly funny too. I vaguely remember him apologizing to Lita for the um....... yeah... that.... but he did so in verse to work in "It wasn't my fault." .....Ruthless Aggression was some weird times, my dudes

Ruby Ruby Ruby Soho

I think it was supposed to be House of Black vs. Death Triangle at Revolution but with Fenix's injury they couldn't have this version of the match (with Fenix instead of Rowan) until now. I feel like it was supposed to happen then. At least we got there. It's one minor quibble I have with AEW at times that sometimes something might get pushed back a liiiiitle too far.

I thought last night was really good but don't know if it ever got to great. It's weird looking at the card for something like.... Jade and Anna which was fine, but telling them "you're here because people are going to watch something else later." That match, Kyle/Darby and his death wish, and the ATT 6 person probably could have just been Dynamite or Rampage. I was super into Ruby winning but about half way through I realized it was a pair of trophies/belts and if Adam won then.... yeah.... and shout out to Cole and Britt for being a much better on screen couple than Tay and Sammy. Hardys/Bucks was fantastic and hoping whatever is going on with MJF gets settled. I can understand IF his gripe was getting squashed but that's where that storyline was always going. The shot of Bryce and Wardlow looking down at him then realizing he got caught going for the ring was pretty great. Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan did we take the long way but hopefully House of Black moves onto something more interesting now and hoping Evil Julia works out.... although this might just mean another House of Black/Blondes match... dammit.... Really surprised at how the ten man worked since it felt like it was all about Jericho and Kingston but they rarely interacted until the end. Surprise Danielson ate the fall too. Wouldn't mind a continuation of Danielson and Kingston though with Mox caught in the middle of them. Wasn't so much a payoff to the whole story but definitely down if that's where it's going. Was surprised Jurassic Express retained but maybe I can my wish of Kings of the Black throne de... throning them. Swerve's moonsault off Lee to the floor was tremendous. Lee and Swerve are fantastic together but feels like both of those guys really should be shining as singles. I wasn't really sure how to feel about Punk winning. I was pulling for him (my friend group I watched with divided), maybe we'll see more of what what Hangman meant and maybe see a slow burn on Punk turning. I thought the story was gonna be Max beating Punk for it but who knows what's going down with that. Solid show, definitely overlong and if TK's thing is 'data' then I wonder where the line is between 'profitible' and 'enjoyable,' not that I didn't enjoy the show but felt not great being with a group of exhausted friends by the time the match we were all psyched for happend. And to quote a friend, "on a scale of 10 to the '86 Mets, how much blow is TK on tonight?"

So part of me wants to kvetch about how this Scorpio/Sammy storyline is STILL GOING and how they somehow made Tay Conti unlikable in the process and how AEW had the easy out by turning Scorp face and turning on Ethan last week and just doing Ethan/Paige vs. Sammy/Tay so we could finally end this program (take a breath, Rob.....) buuut..... at least there was other stuff on the show that was cool If we learned anything from his program with Miro, Faygo takes a solid beating and House of Black really need someone like that especially since they kind have been not doing much while Fenix was out. Looking forward to both groups (hopefully) moving onto something else after DoN. Kind of feel like the World title scene is set for a while if it's going where I think it is so hoping maybe Kings of the Black throne go after the tag belts and just Murph but on some bangers on Rampage once in a while. Starting to dig Kris Swole-lander, her being more of a power worker in that division does help her stand out. The only satisfying way the buy in match will go is Hook using Danhausen as a blunt instrument to beat to death Nese and Sterling with. Everyone, now including the Gunn Club, loves The Acclaimed

I think this nailed it. Even with Rampage there's so much good but there's always that one thing that could have been, I don't know, on dark or maybe web exclusive or something. Deeb's promo is in such a weird limbo. That could have been a huge face moment but at the same time justifies why she's so bitter and it's totally justified. Maybe it was just her delivery, maybe they haven't done enough to build the tension with Dustin or play off that she trained Rosa. I feel like it's a similar problem with Hangman and Punk where I'm totally into it but it feels like they missed a step somewhere in the story. Mox and Kingston back together rules. Mox burying Stadium Stampede and Kingston's "WELL HE IS" about Jericho bringing up his past smack talk on Danielson both popped me. A program with Danielson, Jericho, Regal, Kingston, and 2.0 is so something I would have tried to do in an e-fed once upon a time so it's bizarre to see it actually happening. Okay, Takeshita's great but maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe not go full All Japan stiffsky with the company champ two weeks before a major show. Hangman took one German where I was audibly gasped. Men's bracket is a little weird. So Joe's injury is setting up Kyle potentially beating him so giving us Kyle vs. Adam just doesn't feel right. Or at the same time, having a guy who's been compared to a young Shawn Michaels winning a Hart tourney is something more WWE would do. So that leaves Joe winning but does he really need it? Unless Kyle wins it for Canada? There could not have been a more perfect pick for the Women's Joker and we better get Maki with Dark Order on BTE again. Really loved the contrast to last time MJF busted out Yappa Pi Punishment Strappage, Cody selling it like the stations of the cross with Wardlow's "is that all you got?" I know the story is Wardlow here but feels like MJF really needs a signature PPV win one of these days.

Came up with a top 10 last summer, gonna expand this on the spot -Shawn Michaels -Minoru Suzuki -Bryan Danielson -Kenta Kobashi -Chris Jericho -The Rock -CM Punk -Undertaker -AJ Styles -Samoa Joe -Bret Hart -Kazuchika Okada -Hiroshi Tanahashi so that's 13, two guys just killing it right now to round it out are Jay White and Hangman Page

I used to like listening Alvarez and Meltz doing Impact recaps because Meltz was trying take some kind of objective approach while Alvarez was gazing into the abyss, I don't remember what prompted this one exchange but it always stuck with me- Alvarez "AND JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I SAW THE WORST THE TELEVISION SEGMENT EVER, THEY FOLLOWED IT UP WITH THE WORST TELEVISION SEGMENT EVER!" Meltz "Yeah this is another example of TNA not understanding their audience and-" ALVAREZ "HOW IS THIS A WRESTLING COMPANY"

Anyone manage to catch a screen grab of the pre main event promo? I know they had to fit the big fella in but the accidental forced perspective had Lethal and Sonjay looking like Hobbits and I couldn't stop laughing Ruby and Riho in round 1 is gonna be great. Yuka's always incredible.

Lot of... odd promos tonight. The Blondes really need a vet with them like a lot of the other young acts do, especially as a mouthpiece. The promo from Dark was all kinds of bad too. Kind of surprised on the fakeout with Julia there, I think we're decidingly into shit or get off the pot territory with this though, like it has go SOMEWHERE by DoN, right? Thought it was weird they showed Julia still there during Fenix's ring introduction looking shook, thought that could have been another week of her sulking on the steps. I'm trying not to see that as a Hangman heel turn for no reason and I get Hangman's thing has been getting more confident through each of his defenses but this just felt off. Does he really have an old grudge against Punk that's not being addressed? I'd get if this was building off "Punk's secretly an asshole" like the Kingston program set up but there was just none of that there. Rosa and Serena's promo.... okay so I teach high school english and I try to help my kids be more efficient in their writing when necessary, everyone knew that segment was leading to a title match which, match should be dope, but even Rosa could have just been "I KNOW WHERE THIS IS GOING, I ACCEPT" Wrestling was.... fine tonight. Feeling like we're getting the same BCC match week after week. Brackets for the Owen cup are definitely promising though. Sad Deonna lost but maybe now she can [post that should be on the Thursday thread] go back after the Impact title now. Loving how MJF knows how much he gets under people's skin that he can put people through hell just for the chance to punch him in the face. Wondering if there's going to be a cage match in there somewhere playing off how the first real schism with those two was Wardlow losing the cage match to YEEAAAAH.

Hard to pick a favorite Rock moment but trolling the maple syrup out of Toronto like this was pretty incredible. "68,000 Mother Canuckers booing The Rock out of the building!" Happy birthday to the great one

Rock at Wrestlemania aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand...... okay it's been a while but Brock smearing Hogan's blood on his chest after beating him with a bear hug was an insane visual and flippin' crazy moment

Actually brought this up in group chat while we were watching this! Blood and Guts II mayhap? Man what a show. During the 6 man I felt like Danieslon could have totally just dick slapped all 3 of those guys but.... it's about Yuta these days. And Danielson being the fucking best anyway. FTR really do have a quietly awesome gear game. The pink and black with the skulls ruled, right up there with the RoH logo tights from Supercard. Julia Hart basically rocking my dream job, show up, look cute, look sad, get paid. Deeb and Shida was great, really thought it was Shida's night but building up Deeb for Rosa is probably the right move for now. The false finishes on that ladder match were masterful, like others mentioned don't know if Sammy popping right up after that last fall was.... logical, but if you're in Philly why not go for ECW style falseys like that, and it made it Scorp's win feel all the more worthwhile. Hoping this is Scorp drifting away from Lambert since ATT really feel like they should be full heels and the crowd is really embracing him these days. Remember that banger he had with Jericho? Feels a shame he's been slumming it on dark for so long. Okay.... I have no idea what I'm going to do with myself for Punk and Hangman. I have never been this torn on a wrestling match

Lee calling Team Taz "Calvin and Hobb(e)s" made me want Calvin Tankman in Team Taz Starkman calling Lee and Swerve "Keenan and Kel" was the better burn. This week's chapter of this program goes to to Team Taz. So happy King got a solid win like that, Backfists and Sara Del Rey references are Pro Wrestling(tilde) Cole and Ishii was fantastic but I may have Archer vs. Serpentico on my MOTY list. Beating up Serpentico despite the surprise dive while his music was still playing warmed my Suzuki Gun heart (Ichiban!)

Was rooting for Dalton just for the "land it in the Hudson" reference, I really hope he has still has a home in Ring of Honor whenever it goes regular. Wouldn't mind seeing him on Wednesdays either. Him and Gresham totally stole the show tonight.

For what it's worth one of those four matches was against Kenny.... which I was there for... and totally forgot about until I was reminded of it about a year ago...... AEW seems to have a decent working relationship with Impact, they could at least use /that/ instead.

Fun show but some odd points, Kind of thought it was Robert and Kyle's night but weird that FTR would all out the losers of that match. Maybe having beaten the Briscoes and the Bucks, working their way through the great RoH Tag Champs could be a fun run of matches for them (Hero and Claudio doing anything these days?) That botch took a lot of steam out of Punk/Penta. I still love both guys but felt like they just weren't clicking. Also, if Penta's thing is rising from a grave now, it's a shame there isn't an elevator that can be used in conjunction with that stage right now..... Swerve/Keith vs. Team Taz was all sorts of excellent, probably Ricky's best showing in a long time too. Suzuki just playing the hits these days is enough to make my heart happy. Every time I see him I want to go back and look up his mid 2000's noah stuff. I was worried once they announced this match he would have just been a transitional champ. I wish they would have let him bring that belt back to Japan for a while and had a good little run with it. Match was straight fire though. Okay... and just to get it out of our system, "The Okay Khali."

I feel like Caster really ups his bars for the bigger names, "I end careers faster than your father in law" for Danielson, now some great ones for Joe. I love how Joe was half agreeing with them too, being injury prone and NXT losing in the ratings but everyone knowing Joe was gonna kill someone in a minute... WHICH HE DID! There was one closeup on Julia where it looked like there was some black leaking around the eyepatch, maybe like the mist is growing under there. I'm really liking the slow burn on whatever is happening with her and it was cool seeing her get chippy with someone established liked Shida. My god I could not get into that Hardys/Butcher and Blade match. So going through a table was an elimination but since it was no DQ Jeff and Butcher were allowed to hang out but Jeff got the winning move of the match? I feel like both teams are better than that but it is weird seeing the Hardys in the class gear in this year of our lord. I know you don't want to run the Broken stuff into the ground but if you've got Brother Nero back....... Yeah, with Dean there, that was the second best FTR match this week but holy shit still a banger. It's been a while but I feel like I prefer it to the first. Sure the Bucks are different than Dem Boyz but just shows FTR can match either team's style. So, being from Jersey, it's this thing where we'll support any wrestler from Jersey. But for some reason I never had any attachment to Lethal and, I think him saying "I've decided to speak my mind from now on" hits it, like people from NJ aren't exactly the types to bite our tongues, ever... Speaking of.... Holy shit that Kingston promo was masterful. Dude isn't out there trying to monologue or perform, "I'm going to beat the shit out of you every time I see you, and Daniel Garcia I know where you live." Top top top top top stuff. Also - KENNY POWERS JERSEY

Thanks homie, I reached out to a few other people who clarified and my post was pretty eleventh hour (for... zero hour). Got it all sorted out! Man Swerve and Zayne might be best match I've seen from either guy. That poison rana to the floor was FILTHY. A DCO-> restart there would have been totally valid there. That's how you open a show. I've seen Ninja Mack at a few GCW shows and wish he got more shine but if you need someone to bump for Cage like that, he totally delivered. Lethal and Moriarty was fantastic and glad we finally got a character change for Lethal. Dude's never been the best promo (for me at least) and hopefully Sonjay can pick up some of that slack. Holy shit just mainline FTR/Briscoes right into my veins. This was a rare match where I was like yes, fight forever. Like others totally would justified buying this show on its own. That felt like little send off for Dem Boys at the end too but hoping the Bucks getting involved like that was planting the seeds for something else with them. It's crazy for the journey RoH has been on that Jay and Mark have been such solid consistents for them for most of the entire run (minus a little hiatus here and there). One of the all time best FTR matches ever too which is RIDICULOUS bar. (And Bucks/FTR II in less than a week!) Kaze ni nare~ Yuta/Woods was a pleasant surprise. This was about where I got a little worried for RoH on the whole though. With all the mainstay RoH guys losing I hope this isn't a hard reset on the company. I know no one is technically under contract right now but I'm hoping they get a roster in place sooner than later. For all the great on this show it felt weird that most AEW/Outside people went over and having Dalton on the pre show. By the time we got to the Dynamite commercials it was like "Okay which company am I really watching here?" And the main was fantastic too. I hope Bandido still has a home in RoH when the dust clears and Lethal shitting himself when Joe showed up was an incredible moment. Run, Jay. Joe's gonna kill you.

Anyone know if the show is on the regular plan for Honor Club? It used to be you needed the yearly (VIP) plan to get the PPVs. I just signed up for the regular plan and watching the pre show now