chriskbrown50

It could have been much worse - Conti caught Ford's knees on her torso as Ford under rotated it. The Table not giving at all certainly did not help. And this was just the start of the carnage. So in AEW in 2021 it's the women who put on the best death matches?

Allie was incredible. I give her and Tay all the credit but in reality Allie took some serious bumps. That match was really fun and the 4 of them have great chemistry.

1 year since the Brodie Lee show; out of this true tragedy AEW really moved forward. Well documented that both CM Punk and Bryan Danielson really took real interest in AEW after this show. Pretty great story still being written.

The Sting this is a picture we would see in the Apter mags in the 80s. It was perfect in so many ways. Beginning to wonder who pays for all of these tights? The FTR/MJF ring gear was just awesome too. Amazing when Darby Allin who is certainly over in AEW takes a back seat...

Being in the public eye is hard enough; the combo of social media, vlogs, etc. makes for some truly easy targets. Roddy Piper kept his family so far off the reservation in Oregon back in the day - he knew being the son or daughter of his public persona was not going to be easy. Tay from all accounts looks to be a fantastic person - Sammy deserves some privacy but he has put his private life out there a good bit. There is something that happened and we deserve zero and I mean nothing of an explanation, Tay deserves nothing from this but that's not how the world works these days.

I too noticed that Fenix looked heavier. Not sure what injuries he is dealing with but his style is not easy on the body. I keep wondering who gets the belts next -

So in the fall of 2021 we got two 5 star Bryan Danielson matches on free TV. Yes please//

I noticed this as well. The commentary really added to the match. Excalibur playing the role of lead traffic cop - he is really growing into that role. Taz was on point.

The 45 minute draw with Sting at the first Clash of Champions is an interesting comparison. That match made Sting. I was not sure what they were going to do here. I knew Page losing was the wrong path. Going full 60 minutes with some good ebbs and flows was not expected, but showcased Page against an established mega star. It feels like more and more AEW is NPJW were the huge matches are often drawn out (versus WWE which runs the same matches albeit with no finishes over and over). Also, no interference, no chair shots or brass knucks. 60 minutes of mainly in the ring wrestling. The table spot made sense. I give Tony kudos for letting Page go the full 60 minutes; lots of confidence in his new champ.

LAX, Briscoes, Bucks, FTR - Battle Bowl ???

Well lets hope whatever happens with Julia it has an endgame. Alexa literally just disappeared after Charlotte beat her. The "corrupting" of Julia could lead all kinds of ways; Tony tends to have things mapped out (well when Cody is not involved).

I am officially on the Acclaim bandwagon. Just enjoy them every time they come out. Good in ring work, great promos. Another fun night of wrestling - I loved the MJF video. It was just funny. Sue returning was fun. Santana, Ortiz and Kingston together - yes please. I realized that a year later neither Mox, Omega, or Jericho are on next week. Heck right now Sting and Allin are not slated to be on either. And it is going to be really ok. Not because they are no longer with AEW but it shows to the depth. I am huge Survivor fan and I totally forgot it was on tonight.

Kudos to AEW on the MJF video package; that was just next level.

Toi me ratings are interesting topic - like what are the ratings relative to the cost. Meaning TNT is paying less for AEW than FOX for Smackdown, what kind of ROI is TNT getting - which is directly tied to the ability to charge $$ ad rates. Is Rampage net higher than running a rerun of a movie on Friday at 10pm?

I excluded the Gage match on purpose - Gage came with a set of hardcore expectations when he showed up that they delivered on. I am not a Gage hardcore fan at all; gimmicks need to be used in the right place and time. I still think the dog collar match between Piper - Valentine is the perfect example. Wen Wahoo broke out the indian strap or Dusty the bull rope it mean business. Showing my age. Still AEW remains a fresh of fresh air - and grateful for what has brought to wrestling, if only for Tully and Arn are on TV, and Tony in the booth.

Miro - what a change in booking, from the best man to total bad-ass. His last 8 months of booking were glorious. How about this - he has barely been on TV but is still relevant.

AEW (or Tony) is at its bet with traditional wrestling live matches. The taped spectacles (Stadium Stampede) although not my favorite have been fun as well. But truly hardcore wrestling FMW so far has been a absolute miss. AEW managed to laugh off the exploding ring fiasco, but it's just not their wheelhouse at all. I know some guys want that style, but it's a clear miss for me. Sting/Darby and the Gunn Club was pure fun

The scary thing is we are all getting use to this; like oh ho hum it's Wednesday. Thank you Tony. Sting appears to be really enjoying himself at 62 (my gosh it's amazing to write that). I hope Soho and Statlander get to just tear the house down. Chance for Statlander to really shine. Heck, she winning would not be terrible

Why not Male WOTY: Omega - great heel heat. Danielson was close but Omega for the entire year. Female WOTY: Baker - Mega star (and I would argue AEW's first real break out home grown star). They have better pure wrestlers but she is really over. Match of the year: Wow so many good ones but I have two. Baker/Rosa Lights out was amazing; imagine this match at say All Out in front of a hot crowd. Omega/Danielson left me wanting more. Both matches left me saying please take my money when you do this again. Promo of the year: Kingston/Punk - as good as MJF/Punk is (and it may turn it to be the best single moment on US TV in several years) - Kingston hits that nerve so hard. Tag Team of the Year: Since Lucha Bros won the title (great match) to me the tag teams have taking a step back. I want FTR to be front and center, with LAX all year in 2022. My category: Where I think AEW is doing really well in creating new stars/attractions. Male Star on the Rise: Jungle Boy - went from a bit of comedy match/unsure where he fit to being a legit star. Sammy was my second pick. Jungle Boy has had that Sting like rise in 2021. Female Star on the Rise: Tay Conti. She has it - the super athletic background and off the chart great looks. How WWE missed on her is crazy. From Jan 2021 to now she has become a much better worker, and she will never be hard on the eyes. Moment of the year: Punk Chicago - Organic, over the top. Not as epic as Hogan-Rock in Toronto but as big of a pop wrestling has had in years. The music - him coming out was the LOD pop +++. Heck the ice cream bars was incredible. Most interesting development to me: AEW staking a hard claim to Chicago. If WWE/WWF has claimed the Garden as their "home", AEW is saying Chicago is our home. It is an homage to things like JCP (Greensboro), World Class (Dallas) or even Mid-South (New Orleans), or Florida (Tampa. Miami) . I like it.

AEW has exposed long time fans like me to a whole new set of wrestlers like Garcia, 2.0 etc. And giving them time on the mains tag to shine on TV with older vets. And a willingness of the vets to let the young guys look good. After being force fed for years the same names it feels like, its just refreshing and daring. BUT the are using Dark and Elevation much like a TBS show to let the younger talent get reps. It feels like the older vets feel a responsibility to help the younger talent versus protecting their spot.

It is Cena heat but maybe sharper. Cody is hopefully smarter and will use it somehow. I am along for the ride. Do we see Arn and Tully together? Does Arn turn on Cody first? Where does Brock fit into this?

Maybe it's me but it sounded like JR is taking some time off when he signed off. And I love Arn but man his left hand looked really poor.

Listened to Busted Open - said it was 5k. In NYC which is WWE's backyard the night after what was at one time a huge PPV. I feel for the talent - that was painful. The hard part is we have seen WWE in transition historically but who is the young talent on the men's side who the next set? NXT is been reset completely (not that any NXT talent on the men's side has been successful). We know that the first Diesel WWE champ run was largely the low point in the 90s - but the product is much more exposed these days. Raw was an hour then - now they have 5 hours

OR USA or Fox looks at the ratings of WWE and plays hardball with WWE. Assuming the numbers stay relatively the same, AEW is relatively much cheaper than RAW, for numbers that are in the same neighborhood. But that is a long way off - and I have been saying for over six months WWE is for sale soon.

I would love to know the economic model of AEW; we know they are spending a ton of money on a video game development.