Gordi the recovering AEW f

Reportedly: "The AEW Unified Trios Championship will be unified no more as new ROH Six-Man Champions will be crowned Saturday. ROH announced during Thursday’s Ring of Honor TV episode that a title eliminator match will take place at Friday’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view, with Dustin Rhodes, Ross Von Erich, and Marshall Von Erich facing Dark Order’s John Silver, Alex Reynolds, and Evil Uno, with the winners advancing to Battle of the Belts XI on Saturday to face three members of The Undisputed Kingdom for the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles." Not sure on the source. Buddy c&p'd it to me on messanger. This MIGHT be a minority opinion, but... IMHO, That's crazy talk. AEW/ROH have so few titles, and now they want to.start merging? You head down that road and pretty soon 10% of the wrestlers on your roster won't even be holding a title. OK. Wait. I misunderstood. They are DE-merging. Phew. Dodged a bullet there. (Honestly, I'd be perfectly fine with everyone holding multiple interim title belts ad every single TV match except AITA and B&G being part of a tournament).

I really enjoyed Wavey Grandpa vs Murder Grandpa. I like how Jericho's chest bleeds like crazy every time he fights one of my favourite Japanese guys. Shibata making the save popped me hard. Oktoberfest Shida was working stiffer than usual. I hope my boy Curt picked up on that. Royal Rampage on Friday?!?! No time to take a breath. Jeff Cobb vs Takeshita from G1 night was lotsa fun. If Jungle Boy named his son after Matt and Nick he'd be Jack's son Jackson.

Man, Night One of the G1 was great. An incredibly solid show top to bottom, with violence, action, variety, and just enough surprises in how it was booked. ZSJ vs GOK was particularly great, with a unique takedown exchange that popped me hard. The time flew by like it was an AEW PPV. And after Rampage and Night One yesterday, and Collision this morning, I am still hyped for Night Two. BUT There was one very disappointing match. The one regrettable stain on an otherwise pristine tapestry of a show. "Actually excellent matches with predictable, massively disappointing, bullshit endings" seemed to be a deliberate theme of tonight's Collision. It happened THREE times. Once is really more than enough. I REALLY miss the AEW that almost always featured clean finishes. Oh well. Opener was f'n HAWT. And an "Only in AEW" match. As long as they keep rolling out stuff like Darby vs Taurus I am going to keep getting over my little disappointments and coming back for more. Presumably. Eventually WWE disappointed me enough times that I just gave up completely. I don't see that happening with AEW, though. We all hope Blue is OK. No doubt in my mind about that. HarryArchieGus hit the nail on the head w/r/t the E-Sports Arena! That felt like a PERFECT-sized venue for this show. Loved the hard cam shooting up the ramp. Loved the more intimate feel. I have ZERO business acumen but I would *URGE* AEW to consider running more venues this size, charging reasonable prices for non-ringside seats, providing plentiful merch and refreshment opportunities for the live crowd, and thereby restoring the warm community feel that has sadly slipped away over the past couple of years. Atmosphere is everything. This crowd LOVED Juicey Boy. It MADE the match. I am sure the venue added to that tremendously. Makes the Collision(s) louder! Trimmed beard Dash looks like a different (less interesting) person. Wardlow/Manbun effect. Ishii/Roddy was the most "actually excellent match with a predictable, massively disappointing, bullshit ending" of the night for me. Otherwise, though, it was EXACTLY what I was hoping for when it was announced. Great call bringing in Gringo Loco to make your debuting luchadore look like a million bucks! Surely I cannot be the only one hoping Hologram would use the 3D as a finisher. LOVED the airplane spin, though. Dustin/Von Erichs was too sweet. But, I gotta be honest... I coulda used a little more COWbell. I am SURE that someone backstage was furiously insisting they call it a "LumberJILL" match. (Get it? Hahaha! LumberJILL) and I am SO GLAD that A) they didn't go there and B) Nigel managed to resist the temptation to go there, as well. (EDIT: According to tbarrie, Nigel may have actually gone there. Dammit, Nigel! I am at the point of NEEDING to mentally tune Nigel out in order to enjoy the matches, so I can see how I might have missed it. I complain about Nigel A LOT and I often (here and elsewhere) gets the "they are building to him vs Bryan at Wembley" explanation. That might very well have gone a LONG way toward justifying Nigel's tired, unfunny, disingenuous heel commentator shtick. Those were great matches, back.in the day. Oh well). (the lumberjack match was) Another "liked the match/was bummed out by the ending" scenario. Rosa's hat was AMAZING. G1 Night Two matches include Boltin vs Henare, Gabe Kidd vs GOK, Shota vs Shingo, and Naito vs ZSJ.

Hey, ya know... When you put Suzuki, Ishii, and The Outrunners all on the same one-hour professional wrestling television programme, and toss in a Statlander semi-squash for good measure, it's likely you will end up making ole Gordlow pretty happy. Which is what happened. Plus you toss in Ishii vs Roddy Strong tomorrow (and if I recall Natch's post correctly, f'n DARBY vs BLACK TAURUS as well) then it looks like I won't be able to skip Collision this week either. Don't know how I am supposed to save up any mark-out energy for the G1 or the upcoming PPV or even Blood and Guts plus MiSu vs Jericho... But, what the hell? I am having fun.

I am gaining SO MUCH respect for Will Ospreay. He put both Swerve and MJF over huge, in ways that make them look great. Guys who made a name on the indies and became well known stars in AEW. That is the SPIRIT of being a Bret guy. Certain dudes are good at Bret cosplay and talking about putting dudes over. But guys like Ospreay and Bryan and Eddie Kingston are keeping the true spirit of Bret alive by actually doing clean jobs in the ring when it serves to do so. THAT is how you enter the Best in the World conversation in my mind. Not by winning every match and refusing to return any favours. (i.e an HBK guy). The REALLY great ones can lose a match and make the other wrestler look great while never losing an ounce of credibility or the support of the fans. I am VERY pleasantly surprised to be including Will Ospreay in the conversation with all-time favourites like Bret, Bryan and Eddie (and Terry Funk...) but he has absolutely earned it!

You'd think, being in "Little Rock" you'd want to build the show around Ricky Starks.

The Outrunners accompanying Dalton Castle to the ring and mixing their own shtick in with the The Boys routine put a big old smile on my face. Makes me happy in the same (a similar?) way that Luther finding his niche with Timeless Toni did. Nice to know that there is still space for the entertainingly weird and indie on AEW TV ❤

Cheers, my lads! It warms my heart that you thought of me when you heard that news. I am indeed fully stoked for The Summer of Ishii.

My tl/dr is: That was a massive pile of unnecessarily Sports Entertainmenty disappointment. If you have time, please read my explanation of why: Disappointment is an interesting thing. If I am hungry and it's late and we find a ramen restaurant and the ramen is pretty good, I will be delighted. But if we made special plans to go to a famous ramen restaurant in Kyoto, and had to wait in line 45 minutes, and it's kind of expensive, THE EXACT SAME BOWL OF RAMEN would be a MASSIVE DISAPPOINTMENT. I really thought this could have been another all-timer. As good as last week's show. So, even though there was plenty of good (for example, BRYAN WINS! Calgary warming my heart by POPPING for Ishii, the bloody final image, etc etc) I feel let down. Way too much ENTIRELY UNNECESSARY WWE-esque Sports Entertainment Bullshit. (thankfully, not leading directly to Fuck Finishes, but still, the matches did NOT need that shit). Fucking non-stop Nigel on commentary. He takes SO MUCH from the table while bringing significantly less to it. About 80/20 at this point. So, yeah. Good show. ALL the wrestlers absolutelybusted their asses. But: Disappointing. - Did Nana dance through the ENTIRE commercial break? I sure hope so. - I refuse to suspend my disbelief w/r/t Joe being hospitalised by some fucking DRYWALL. Cool visual with the forklift, though. Joe being loaded into an ambulance while commentary does concerned voices was the most egregious bullshit on a show absolutely packed to the fucking gills with egregious bullshit. i still loves ya, All Elite WRESTLING. AESE can git tae fuck, though.

Good Golly Bob Holly! Last week's Dyn-o-mite was an all-timer and I legit believe they have a chance to go two for two this week. DO YA?!?! Yes, I do! Look at that image! The least serious guy is going to get his ass absolutely kicked by the most serious guy, and everyone is going to LOVE it. Speaking of contrasting styles: Claudio (power) vs PAC (speed) vs Fletcher (Aussie) vs THE STONE F'N PITBULL TOMOHIRO ISHII (awesomeness). A pure "Only in AEW" match if I ever saw one. I LOVE those. Dragon vs Hangman could be about as close as we can get these days to something like Terry Funk vs Stan Hansen, in a "The Best in the World" vs "Ultraviolet Cowpoke" sense but also (not to get all MattD on everyone, but): If anyone can reign in The Hanger and get him to tell a cohesive story in that there ring, it's gonna be oor lad Bryan. Seriously, this could be GREAT. Willow is fighting. The world is always a better place when Willow is fighting. Also, the Billington Kid gets to fight Takeshita. On Collision. In Calgary. I thought the Kid looked tremendous in there vs Dax. I hope he can take the erstwhile "getting over without going over" path blazed in early days AEW by the likes of Darby. I was kind of planning to take a break after Forbidden Door (Which I LOVED. And the crowd was amazing, in my opinion, going mad for Mistico with the Lucha Brothers, Ishii being Ishii, Okada's entrance, and loads of other "esoteric" pro wrestling moments, but treating all the Sports Entertainment Superstars (including IWGP Champion Dean Ambrose) (!) with silent contempt. That crowd MADE the show for me). I need to store up Mark Out Energy for G1 season. (Go Tsuji)! But. Dang. How is a pro wrestling fan supposed to skip stuff like this? It's unreal. Even did a preview post for this one! How do you like them apples? The heartbreaking mishandling of Fight Forever, the Sportsentertainmentification of AEW and the switch from respecting our intelligence and communicating openly with the fans to corporate newspeak have all contributed to turning A E W from a thing I am obsessed with into a thing I am merely very into. But I love these matches. ...and that last Rampage in June. It felt like they let ME book that one. El Phantasmo vs AR Fox, Orange vs THE OUTRUNNERS, Gabe Kidd, Queen Aminata... Shame Shingo vs Dalton didn't go as well as it could have... But, dang it, AEW... I guess I still loves ya.

Yep. Anyone complaining about that can git tae fuck. Tremendous main event. Also: Credit to Toa Liona for COMPLETELY transforming their body since playing Amanda Kirby in Jurassic Park! Whose spray? Aw's spray! PENTA WAS BANNED FROM RINGSIDE! He's the Great to see Gates of Agony and Dancy Pants moving up the ranks! I was afraid that having such a STACKED roster was going to prevent anyone from moving up. ISHII!! SUZUKI!! ❤ (winks at Bull Nakano) GABE F'N KIDD!! YASSS!!! f'n HIROMU ❤ TWO DRAGONS! ZSJ vs KOR. This is wrest-ling!! Clap clap clapclapclap, Crowd seemed inadequately hawt until Bruv came out.I Orange discussing strategy was GOLD ah, Forbidden Door season. You get me, every time. Guess I'm just a Forbidden Dork

Dang! I did NOT have "I would be OK with Double J winning the Owen now" on my AEW BINGO card! O how I wish Nigel would just shut the fuck up once in a while. Him ragging on Tony S is the polar opposite of entertaining. I really enjoyed Okada vs U.G. Those delightful "only in AEW matches" keep me coming back for more. Hope Daddy Magic isn't badly injured. More rough- and sloppy-looking moments on the show in general than is usual, today. The latest ratings numbers for Dynamite, per WON, look absolutely f'n BRUTAL. I am sure EVERYBODY thinks that all AEW has to do to turn it around is cater to their own specific tastes. So, allow me: Ratings were highest when AEW was a big, goofy indie! IN ALL SINCERITY: I honestly believe AEW is hurting themselves badly by becoming more polished professional and corporate. They were WAY better off when positioning themselves as a scruffy underdog and differentiating themselves as much as possible from the E and creating a community feel for the fans. Like a big indie. They moved away from that in order to grow and it has COMPLETELY backfired. They were WAY better off when they respected their fans' intelligence. Go back to that.QUIT TRYING TO APPEASE THE PRO WRESTLING GRANDPAS AND CORNETTE FANS WHO WILL *NEVER* ACCEPT YOU ANYWAY! Reduce your f'n ticket prices and fix your f'n video game! Every fan you fuck over is a fan you genuinely risk losing. Be a craft brewery instead of a 2nd rate corporate brewery. Be Five Guys instead of Burger King. Be purely Lollapalooza instead of adding little pinches of Monsters of Rock to try and "broaden the appeal" You are SO GOOD at catering to the hardcore fanbase. DO THAT! Quit sucking up to the people who don't get you. BE TRUE TO YOURSELF! And. MOST IMPORTANTLY! FUCK OFF WITH THE IRON SAVAGES AND TITTY CITY! BRING BACK OUR BELOVED GOOFY BEAR COUNTY!! Thank you for coming to my TED talk. Ospreay vs Huge Guy matches are almost always amazing. Start with Shibata, Joe, & Hook and finish with Ospreay vs Cage and you'll NEVER (completely) lose me, AEW. Although, as a Canadian living in Japan I contribute ZERO to those all-important same day US TV ratings anyway.

No! Don't keep starting your shows with 10+ minutes of Blahblahblah! No! Don't have dudes (Roosh) just freeze up when their rival's entrance theme starts playing!! NOOOO!!! DON'T TREAT F'N NICKY BOY AS "IN ACTION"!!!! Dammit AEW! NO! Don't let PAC say "Championship Opportunity!" FFS! Don't have guys pointing at the PPV sign! AAARGGHHH!!! DIFFERENTIATE!! Don't f'n copy their dumb worn out tropes and cliches. Dammit. On the other hand.. Yas! Keep tossing out PPV level matches like Ospreay vs Fenix and MJF vs Roosh, on free TV. Might as well. Roster is so ridiculously stacked you're not going to run out any time soon. And that, at least, is certainly a lot of fun to watch. Also fun: Joe, Hook, and Shibata, and the juxtaposition of Chicken and Orange. Actual Bird > Mythical Bird. Edit: Hook nope-ing! Hook nope-ing was veryvery fun, too! New stuff to look forward to: ZSJ vs Orange! Shingo in the Owen! Edit again: All the in-ring stuff on TV is consistently excellent. The cake is great! I just FAR preferred the old, unique, type of frosting and REALLY wish they hadn't switched over to that generic corporate frosting supplier.

Far as I can tell the Casino Gauntlet match is the only thing announced for Dynamite. I kind of hope it goes the full two hours. I think they could easily go 50 entrants if they really wanted to. Edit: Consarn it! Jon Moxley vs. Rocky Romero – IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Eliminator Match Swerve Strickland vs. Killswitch Casino Gauntlet Match for shot at AEW World Title at Forbidden Door Mercedes Mone TBS Championship celebration Debut of “TV Time” with Chris Jericho Don Callis to present a contract Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway to explain attack on Willow Nightingale at Double or Nothing 3 matches and 4 blahblahblah segments! At least Mox vs Rocky will be as fun as a foregone conclusion match can be, most likely.

Fucks sake. Listen. I KNOW I'm being the grandpa here, but... maybe between this and Edge breaking his leg... how about dialing down on the extreme high risk shit by about 20% or so? Really. Most of us would be just fine with more Roddy vs Ospreay and Storm vs Deeb type matches that are just hard hitting, dramatic, and well fought. i really don't enjoy watching wrestlers I like getting hurt. Getting pretty close to my user name being 100% literally true.