Steventon

I've been enjoying the BCC stuff, though I do agree that the lack of top babyfaces to combat them is being exposed. I am onboard with Darby leading the charge as 1) Mox vs Darby feels like AEW's longest-standing dance 2) I *assume* this leads to Mox putting Darby over for the belt and 3) Darby vs Claudio, PAC and Yuta are all fresh matches, if they choose to run any of them during this program. OC I like but am less enthused about in this program because we've literally already seen him feud with the BCC before, both as a collective and against Moxley and PAC individually. After the year Hangman has had, turning him back babyface would actually feel really inconsistent with the arc they have been building. Joe could be a credible face but doesn't fit the storyline. Jay White is occupied with Page. Wardlow is MIA. The one thing that will absolutely 100% kill my interest in this is an Elite face turn, which they have been teasing. Not only have we also have BCC vs Elite done in the past, it highlights my biggest gripe with this whole angle and general direction of AEW this last year. They spent the entire Summer putting over the Elite 2.0 as the dominant heel faction, running their own hostile takeover: They took out Omega, they took out TK, they all won titles, they abused their authority, they feuded with the AEW faithful, including beating them in several TV and PPV main events. That all quietly got pushed into the background somewhat and has all lead to basically no payoff or resolution. Now they are running a VERY similar program with the BCC in a similar position. For the Elite to turn face without ever getting their comeuppance or a payoff to that angle, would 1) be wholly undeserved 2) completely undermine the rest of the babyface roster, especially dudes like Darby who fought the Elite. We all seem to be armchair booking our own scenarios, personally I'd have the Bucks lose to PP and run PP vs Claudio/Yuta at the PPV, Bucks get taken out and written off TV for this angle, Okada gets his own program away from it, and Perry can or cannot join the BCC. I don't think him hopping from one heel faction to another while there's such a dearth of credible faces in the program does anyone any favours. They could REALLY do with Eddie Kingston being healed.

Amazing we are getting Danielson vs Nigel in 2024, and it'll be an actual grudge match rather than some respectful legends affair. The Moxley vs Darby section was a bit janky in logic but awesome in execution. Maybe the best Darby has ever come off on the mic. Lots of intrigue here. Does Darby win to finally beat Mox then dethrone Danielson in their home state? Or do we get Uber-Heel Moxley shitwheeling his way into the title match, retiring Danielson, then Daby finally overcoming him? All paths feel like they lead to Darby finally winning the big one and Danielson losing at WD, it's just what roads we take.

As for the rest of the show, I thought Danielson vs Perry was very good, though they were somewhat limited by how far they could go with the violence and drama without overshadowing both the post-match angle and the main event. It struck me about halfway through, they were essentially doing a poor man's Kobashi vs Ogawa, which is exactly what it should have been. Perry absolutely FLEW bumping for those Busaiku Knees. I wasn't shocked by the BCC turn but it was still really well done and impactful. The bag did feel a step past what is acceptable... as much as in terms of walking the lines of whats believable in pro wrestling. But I guess Moxley's character is a guy who is dangerous so it's on brand. Really interested where this is going, considering Moxley has been calling out Darby, who challenges Danielson in 2 weeks. Is he trying to recruit Darby? Pump him up for the match? Or just be an agent of chaos? Either way I am more into this now then I was beforehand. Mone vs Shida, the fourway and tag matches were all OK but unremarkable. Willow vs Stat was a good match with some sick moments but they were trying too hard to shoehorn in the 'we are equal' stuff. Stat winning clean was a surprise. They have 2 heel champs in the womens division so where do they all go from here. PAC vs Ospreay was the exact match I knew it would be. Some will have lost their mind over this 8* match, for me it was them indulging their worst tendencies. Will have to rewatch MJF vs Garcia as I missed a lot of it. The post-match angle was great, though a bit odd for MJF to still sneak out the win if they are pushing Garcia here? Also, back to the main event, Nana was so good in his role. I howled at his trash talk to Hangman. I was a big fan of him in ROH but his work in AEW has cemented him as a GOAT level manager

Man that main event was fucking gnarly. And the 'they've gone to far!!!' pearl clutching makes it even gnarlier. I thought it was easily their best match and a highlight for both dudes. Hangman still has no idea of long term selling, but structurally it was way better than the TDM. Swerve's character and range of emotions though the match made it hit so much harder than the majority of other extreme violence matches. Needle spots have always felt like gross 'look how hardcore we are' deathmatch spots so the fact they gimmicked it makes me respect it more. Its worth reflecting on how chairshots like that were commonplace in the 90s and 2000s, but here it was treated like a real 'he's crossed the line' death move that wasn't acceptable and left everyone in shock. The way the crowd GASPED and SHREIKED when Hangman teased going back to the ring sealed the deal for me.

The Mark Briscoe promo was great just for everyone else looking like geeks trying to match his energy And Marina Shafir has massive Tryhard Energy. Mox vs Darby has been a great pairing in the past so I'm down for that destination, but the past 2 weeks the Mox bits have felt super awkward.

I'm a bit of a low voter on Swerve and this Hangman feud but got to say, great bit of character work to see the ice cold killer break down like that. That said, I sincerely hope that wasn't actually his childhood home burned to sell a pro wrestling match...

Hey I watched the main event. Cool crowd as always for these events and Gunther looked good. Thought it was a boring match though personally. I always find it baffling when guys want to work matches that literally do the opposite of playing to their opponent's strengths, like Orton dominating the first half and neutralising Gunther's arms early. Throwing lead is what Gunther does best. I may be in the minority, but I really cannot subscribe to this narrative that late stage Randy Orton is the best he's ever been. It is great that he is enjoying himself and he shows the most personality he's ever had, but the guy has been sleep walking through the same match for a decade now. The amount of time-killing and posturing for the crowd when he had the advantage against a guy like Walter felt, in kayfabe terms at least, incredibly dumb. And Gunther being the one to extend the hand and put Orton over, rather than the other way around, was . I do like Orton but the amount of smoke that gets blown up his ass by this company is painful sometimes. Late post- had to get it off the chest!

I'm on board with Danielson vs Perry. Perry is a good worker, sometimes even very good, and there is plenty of build there with the AE vs Elite stuff, him pinning Danielson, and coming off a win at All In. He's probably the number 2 heel in the company from kayfabe perspective after Max lost his mid card title. Plus no one would buy Danielson losing his first defence anyway so you might as well have a tomato can match. Danielson getting revenge and murdering Jack could be cathartic. No idea where the end goal of the Elite stuff is and if that will cross over with this Moxley angle. Mox felt more heel than face tonight so maybe they slowly push this Elite takeover stuff into the background now.

This honestly may have been the best bump on the whole show. I salute it.

Some completely jumbled thoughts as I got really high just as the show kicked off. Was it me being high or was the opener a bit of a fucking mess? Toni vs May was fucking AWESOME. Maybe again it was me being really dialled in just for this match but they absolutely smashed it. Holy shit May is great and Toni deserves her flowers here. Nigel getting THAT pop almost instantly after the Oasis riff, showing the fans knew was what was up, was fucking magic. He looked alright considering he hasn't been in a ring for what, well over a decade? The fact we are likely getting a 2024 Danielson vs Nigel match is unfathomable. Ricochet looked great. Zack being there was great. Okada rules. Do we need 2 matches building up a Luchasaurus face turn of all things though. MJF vs Ospreay could have honestly been the main event and called it a night there. Amazing match, amazing moment. I liked parts of Mone vs Baker but assume there was some flub there at the finish? Darby vs Perry was nutty but they probably have an actual really great match in them when they aren't on a stage this big. Sting being there was cool. Is Jack the hottest heel in AEW now? I look forward to Danielson hopefully murdering him on his way out. Main event was strong. I'll be honest, I found parts of them showing Danielson's kids and doing the fake doctor stuff (which everyone knows is a trope now and doesn't get any reaction) to be pretty uncomfortable, and not in a good way. Credit to Swerve for holding a lot that match together where there points where it almost looked like the moment was getting the better of them. Danielson's fired up comeback while looking at his family was something special. Great show really.

I remember, when I first started posting on message boards about 20 years ago, there was another lad in the UK I talked with a lot called Paul. Him and I had a lot in common and got each other into all sorts of cool pro wrestling off the beaten path across the indies, japan, mexico, wherever. I remember us both being massive Bryan Danielson fans and sending each other ROH DVDs so we could see every match he had there. This must have started around 2005, just before he won the title, and continued until he left in 2009 or they got the TV deal, can't remember which. At some point we lost contact. I thought about those conversations tonight. Where is Paul? Does he still even like pro wrestling? And does he know Bryan fucking Danielson just won the world title at a stadium show at god damn Wembley in the year of our lord 2024?

Lucha Bros have left? When did that happen?

having a guy basically admit he's a loser who hasnt won many matches and doesnt deserve a title shot sure is one way to set up a title match i expect Owens will get the token 2 week build up then get forgotten about just like AJ did

Typically blah PLE. Lots of big story beats but the matches themselves were so-so and the emphasis is on the over-booking. Also, the layout/structure of most of these matches is so... weak. Whoever the current agents are really are not doing a good job. Which is unfortunate because on paper the card was good and there's a parallel universe where they slayed. Ripley vs Morgan was whatever. Ripley is able to go back to normal after popping her shoulder back in, killing off all heat, until the finish. And the finish was janky. Plus Ripley didn't sell the betrayal like she was, IDK, heartbroken, she sold it like it was just the match she was upset about. Bron vs Sami was too short to be anything other than alright but I get they were doing for the dominant win. Just a shame considering the build of the match was strong. Knight vs Paul was OK. I don't have much issue with the shenanigans in Logan's matches, if anything it is LA Knight who is only just OK once the bell rings. Again the finish was janky - dude gets hit with the brass knuckles then immediately hits his finish out of nowhere a second later. Bayley vs Jax was pretty blah for the first half but did pick up towards the end with those sick powerbombs. Drew vs Punk was a bad match with no bite and an actively lame story. We all knew the ref stuff with Rollins would detract big time, but building half the match around a friendship bracelet certainly was a choice. Punk didn't look good - not that I thought he sucked, but considering this was his first singles match in WWE in a decade, it was anything but a statement performance. And from a character perspective he came across like a total douche. ALSO - cosplaying a match from 25 years ago was another lame decision. This should have been the grudge match of the year and a typical Summerslam barnburner but instead was a stinker. Gunther vs Priest was pretty decent. Priest has done his best to step up to being a main event level guy but I thought the match being laid out with him being more dominant than Gunther until getting screwed was not the way to go. Gunther matches are best when he crushes an opponent and they gut their way back into the match. The betrayal sort of overshadowed Gunther's win. Cody vs Sikoa was also actually a decent match and I thought Sikoa looked good, but again, everything until the run-ins was just blatant filler. Roman returning to put Sikoa in his place is decent sure, personally my interest in the Bloodline and this story is pretty low, but I get it was a big moment. Some of the story beats were cool and it feels like we're in for a 'new season' of programs now, I just wish they'd get out of the wrestler's way more in the actual matches.

I have to say, as someone who actively thinks Seth is stinko, he has stepped up his promo game this year. That said, muddying CM Punk's first singles match in a WWE ring in over a decade with a special guest ref nonsense match is a real hot turd move. I can get they probably want to bake in a contingency plan in case he gets hurt again, but having the focus of this match be about referee shenanigans instead of a pure grudge match is a massive L. It doesn't help that all 3 dudes came across pretty unlikable in last night's promo either, if anything Drew - the heel - is the one it feels like we should be rooting for.

Give us the Darby Allin & Mark Briscoe wildcard tag team we all deserve

So Judgement Day are faces now right? Or at least Priest and Ripley are?

The Bloodline stuff is all good but the one thing that I can't shake is that Solo was basically canon fodder before this. He was always talked about like he was a threat, but was basically a JTTS who only had 1 win in the last 6 months and has like that 1 win over Cena in Saudi Arabia as his only notable singles win. If the plan was to have him in this role, they really should have done a better job Rumble to Mania building him up and even having him win something at WM. Until the arrival of Jacob, this has felt more like nWo B-Team rather than Wolfpac.

I was hoping Matt Jackson was going to lean into the full Vince trope and scream YOURE FIREDDD at Daniels Even if youre a fan of Malaki Black in the ring, can we all agree that the character and almost all his feuds are lame as fuck? Willow is awesome and I am glad they've basically made Mone the heel here. You can't not want Willow to win Cool to see Darby back and the fourth man, guess TK called in a favour with Kingston injured.

The opener was probably my favourite match of the show. Super simple, two fired up charismatic babyfaces pummelling the heels in front of a super hot crowd. Was it me or was it more violent than most WWE prop fests? There were several shots to the head and I thought that was a no no in WWE. Maybe they are being more lax about that under the Hunter regime. Tonga is mediocre but he at least took that wild avalanche fisherman buster on the chairs. The finish was typical Bloodline guff and no one could possibly care about the other Tama coming in but until then it was fun. It's a shame they had those few minutes of calamity in the womens tag because everything either side was a blast. Belair and Cargill are an awesome powerhouse team and the heels had tonnes of fun double team stuff, both teams just felt like cohesive units. Smart to have Belair do most of the work as she is more well rounded than Jade, who isn't very good at taking stuff, but got to shine in her big moments. No idea what happened in the middle, looked like they were doing a relatively intricate sequence, Jade flubbed something, then Kairi got lost for like 2 minutes when thrown off track. Oh well, I still thought it was a thumbs up regardless because the stuff either side was shockingly good. Belair is a god pairing for Jade and I am down for this tag team, and the eventual rivalry once one of them turns on the other. Main event was good but unremarkable. It feels like all modern WWE main events (maybe not specific to WWE actually) are just constant back and forth with no prolonged heat section or one guy having the advantage. There were several moments where Cody took a big spill or sold something like it was going to be important, then the next move was him evening it up against AJ. Would it kill wrestlers to let their opponent string a few pieces of offence or have a few minutes of sustained heat? I came away feeling it was all well executed but lacking in drama, which is a shame because the video they put out of AJ training and talking about not being done yet made me really want this to be a barnburner. But Cody, as much as I like him, just ain't that guy.

I’ll be in the minority but I though Okada vs PAC was a dumb dumb spotfest with no structure and dumb stuff like an avalanche brain buster being used as a throwaway spot a third of the way in and forgotten about instantly. Okada’s heeling was great though, more of that and less movez please. Agreed on the rain maker being restored to a one shot kill move feeling refreshing after years of it being nerfed in new Japan. ospreay vs danielson was really excellent. As a ospreay sceptic, he’s clearly matured a lot over the past year and now uses his incredible athleticism to enhance his matches rather than as a crutch for lack of substance. Yes there were big spots but most of the match was built around struggle, grit, and beating the crud out of each other. This felt like a match designed to make ospreay as a top guy and pass on the mantle, and his passion and emotion matched that. No issue with the ending, I actually was glad such a move was presented in such a serious way, it makes a change from them just being another in a long line of predictable kickouts 6-man was really fun thanks to the babyfaces. Brody shines in these matches too. Murphy is mechanically fine but bland. Black feels like a guy who has long been exposed as average and whose time has passed. Copeland doing a regular superplex on Brody got a much bigger reaction than PACs brain buster because a) it was more impressive and b) it was better placed in the match. Just saying. we need to hurry with mone’s heel turn. I’m already turning on her garbage entrance, painful wwe dancing and lack of actually doing anything storm vs Rosa ruled and was the best women’s match in ages. Considering she has a rep for being a stiff, Rosa’s selling was pretty great. Both ladies laid it in, took some big bumps and showed a lot of energy. main event was ok. I liked swerve but have come to feel he’s overrated recently. Like most joe matches it peaked very early. The stuff with the arm work was good but was kinda filler. The flubbed finish was ambitious, shame they couldn’t pull it off. Good on Swerve and cool moment, can’t say there’s tonnes of matches im looking forward to from swerve though. I loved the Jimmy rave robe though, god bless nana for keeping that. I skipped most of hook - Jericho and the ladder match. Jericho is boring, hook is an over pushed nepo who gets to kick out of 2 Judas effects for some reason. Jack Perry being back is cool, i am down for him to cause some (on screen) chaos

assuming no one has brought up that Solo hasn't won a match in over 6 months? if wins and losses are supposed to matter as he said in his promo, he should have been the first one kicked out of the group

Pretty standard WM show, in the current era it's more about the pomp and circumstances and the entrances rather than good wrestling so I can't say I was disappointed. Becky vs Rhea was fine. Becky hasn't been anything special since pre-pregnancy but atleast she put Ripley over clean. There is a world where Rey/Andrade vs Dom/Escobar is a banger, but not here. It was a fine WM highlight reel. My expectations for Uso vs Uso were low so I wasn't too bothered by their match, but can we put to bed the idea that either of them are any good as singles, because they are not. Put them back together as faces to carry on the Yeet thing which is popular for some reason. The women's 6-man wasn't good but I agree Jade has It and can be a mega star if they treat her right. That said it was only a couple years ago Bianca was It and now she's well down the pecking order. Gunther vs Sami was the only really strong match and pretty satisfying. They probably have a better match in them away from all the WM schmozz and melodrama, but seeing the Brainbustahhh on GUNTHER of all people was pretty sick. The main was fine, no need for it to be so damn long, but credit to Rock for stepping up. This type of match def helped him keep up with everyone els, def a better showing the Cena matches. Could have cut it down to 20 minutes though and nothing would have been lost. I will find it mad we get a bladejob in a segment leading up to this match, but no blood in the match itself. That's when it counts!

Yeah as much as the perception of Billy Gunn seems to have somehow been retconned to him now being a 'legend', the guy's always been a chud who was lazy, un-giving in the ring and big-leagued plenty of guys on the indies because of his size. Why he is getting the singles match here rather than Bowens or Caster is mind boggling.

The lack of Mox/Claudio in the tourney is bizarre considering they just went over FTR clean on the PPV and the commentators were talking them up as a new force in the tag division. hopefully there’s a curveball and we get something like the Best Friends winning it