Nineteen

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

My guess was Athena (Ember Moon), her and Jade have been a little chippy the twitter recently. I know people think of the more indy style with AEW but it seems like they shine with the big bloody hard hitting hoss brawls, Archer and Dustin just rule together. Speaking of new AEW signings coming in hot and disappearing, I really hope guys like Malakai and Lee are meant for big big things in this company. I feel like the main event scene (Jericho to Mox to Kenny to Hangman) has been handled excellently but you have a great mix of established guys (the aforementioned) and guys like MJF who you know are gonna hold that belt someday, I know there's only so many spots but I really hope do better than "slumming it on dark." I know there's the joke that RoH will the new AEW C show just... I hope TK finds a way to balance all these guys out in terms of air time. For a minute I thought Brian Cage was gonna be the mystery guy behind the Starks banner, Lee and Swerve sounds like a fun tag team but again, Lee really has to be a huge singles star someday. Alos, Nyla's "IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DISRESPECTFUL" ruled. In terms of the pro graps, Nyla sees The Matrix.

Miho and Taichi, has a very "anime end credits" feel, that's a great image for those two https://www.instagram.com/p/CaSzw1GrxmS/

Fuck man... A few years ago me and some friends when to a House of Glory show and Hall did a meet and greet before. In the days after I was kicking myself because I would have loved a photo with him and wanted to tell him that I was glad he was doing so well and that Razor was one my favorites as a kid. Bad times don't last, but bad guys do. Me and my friends I watch the pro graps with just adore Hiromu. I love cats and they're big punk fans so he's like this amalgamation of everything we love. His match with Ospreay at WK a few years ago just blew my mind and I love how most of the LIJ guys are all chill almost to a fault but they still love him as the out there one. During the pandemic I got super in Tanahashi. He was having an MVP run of quality matches but also just like, in that darkness it felt like I needed a hero to root for and he just fit the bill. I went to a Rev Pro show 'mania weekend once and it was him and Osprey vs. ZSJ and Suzuki. It was totally a Suzuki crowd (myself included) but when Go Ace hit and seeing him in person for the first time, dude really has that "once in a 100 years talent" aura to him. For past, most of the old guard ECW guys especially Taz, Sabu, Raven, Van Dam, Sandman. Living in Jersey I remember when friends started talking up this insane wrestling show late late late Saturday nights and how it was nothing like Raw or Nitro but had this totally magnetic quality to it. Everyone in my high school was wearing nWo shirts so I got to feel a little cool like "yeaaah but I know when the real good shit is on."

I really don't think Cody leaving was a work the way others posted about it, especially Aubrey and Amanda Huber. It's hard seeing a situation where him going back to AEW works though. At best maybe it'll be a "sorry guys, we worked it out" which will really cheapen all the heartfelt posts him and Brandi got. And if he does it'll hard to not acknowledge "well he kind of used WWE to leverage more money out of AEW." Even giving him Ring of Honor will be weird since it'll always feel like the B show, or what... the C show... below Rampage but above Dark/Elevation... Ring of Honor = AEW Worldwide? I feel like Cody's given us way more good than bad in AEW, just feels like the bad stuff was all at the end. And as bad as "Cody Solves Racism" was, the company was still really built on his match with Dustin, the programs with MJF, making Darby. He's a complicated and interesting dude but I think people want to like him but there's this layer of self awareness he's missing that's preventing it.... It is kind of impressive how much oxygen he's taking up while being away too.

MJF using Punk (using Kaiser Soze) for that program, Can we get Jade using "Terry Funk ain't wear no mouthpiece!"

Dude I remember when Cena beat Batista in a last man standing by taping his legs together around the ring post I was hoping Raw would with him still like that the next night, haha. Really dope seeing Danielson and CD go at it as a capper for the RoH announcement but dammit Daniels does not follow the Code of Honor how do you mess that up! That Punk/MJF segment, might be the best promo Punk's ever cut, and for the sudden but inevitable betrayal from Max there I hope Sting whispered to Punk "Bro even I saw that one coming..." Really liked Hangman breaking out the purple bandana again that while's not officially in Dark Order that everyone's still got each other's backs when it counts. If Cage/Page (.... Christian/Ethan) is for the last spot, wondering if that means a joker/surprise entrant? Man, even after All Out and Full Gear, AEW keeps bringing the goods with the major shows, I'm soooo stoked for Sunday

Anyone else remember the Bashams and Shanequa?

Well they teased the third member this week so it seems like the two of them are getting a.... Buddy? I feel like when it comes time to end Hangman's reign it's going to be MJF but I man REALLY want to Malakai to have a great run with that belt someday.

If Dark Order are going to be Hangman's backup to counter Fish and O'Reilly I hope this ends up being a Title vs. Name match. Winner gets the championship, loser has to give up the "Adam" name and start calling themselves "BUDGE." Definitely curious about Britt and Rosa. It's felt like Ruby or Rosa would be one the dethrone her but feels like Britt still has some life left in this reign too. I have "Nowhere to Run" and "Manhattan Mayhem" on DVD somewhere in storage and there's a Punk/Rave single's match on RoH's youtube channel so definitely rewatch those before Punk/MJF which feels like it's going to be a hell of a blood bath.