Matt D

I missed the last hour. What did they announce for Rampage/Collision/BOTB? That’s what’s really important.

3/29 con't. I will get through this stuff.

3/29 con't. Good stretch here.

Mania weekend got in the way but i did catch some. 2/25/89 con't And the start of 3/29

Here's the Andretti image. I captured it myself, dammit.

As for Samantha Irvin, it says far more about the WWE culture than it does her in general. Having an announcer who will adapt their cadence and style depending on the wrestler in the ring is great. I'm not convinced that Irvin is particularly better or worse at this than anyone else that might have been given the opportunity in Vince-less/Dunn-less world to do it. There's not exactly a huge baseline. I remember announcers getting handslapped for trying it (even on house shows) in the past. I can't tell if she's genuine or working a good chunk of the time because it comes off as a little hokey but it's wrestling so that's not a bad thing necessarily. It's a tough balance. If she's getting so choked up that her voice is going there are pros and cons to it. Overall, things like the Gunther and Chelsea Green intros add more than subtract, but then I also don't watch this stuff on a weekly basis; I barely watch it at all! So maybe I'd feel differently if I was.

I've seen enough clips of the main event's last few minutes to piece together what happened and, from this perspective, and using Gregg's HHHyperBowl, the stuff with Rollins is legitimately the funniest thing they've done since Heenan left in the early 90s. Rollins being so self aware that he realized he was a pathetic shadow of the actual stars of years' past that were running out and that the only way he could make a real impact on history was to come out in the Shield gear with the world's most punchable face and distract Reigns by giving him something that he simply had to hit.. hilarious. That's ultimate rat boy stuff right now. If Rollins had been working like Ogawa for the last decade, he'd probably be on my GWE 100 list.

Here’s my quick review of Kingston versus Briscoe plus some Danielson/Archer talk: http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2024/04/aew-five-fingers-of-death-41-47-part-2.html?m=1

They should throw some money at Joel Hodgson.

How’s Cody’s emoting when he hits a missile dropkick these days?

I liked the Rampage main event a lot. It's going to be a lost match because of the timing but the end Andretti vs Garcia bit was quite good. The spot where Andretti caught Komander off the ropes in a torture rack for his finish was nuts, spot of the year contender and no one saw it. Ah well.

My connection (as a viewer) with Punk in AEW was entirely transactional. While he was in AEW, he could push back against the 25%-33% of the product that I don't have a lot of use for by 1) taking up TV time with matches that I do enjoy, 2) pushing the overall aesthetics/style more in that direction in general, and 3) championing wrestlers who work along those lines and be a counterbalance to other voices that champion other wrestlers. While yes, there were certain philosophical agreements that came from that, overall, that wasn't actually the point. It wasn't about being right in some sort of moral argument with wrestlers or other fans, it was about enjoying the product as much as possible. Now that he's gone, I've got very little use for him except for that maybe he'll push the WWE/NXT in directions that I'm happier with over time. Right now, I don't want to be happy with WWE because the company more or less makes me sick, so I'm totally fine with him going away except for if people keep asking him about Vince in interviews; that would be ok.

In other news, the announced matches over the next week are the most interesting ones in a while. Dynamite: Copeland vs PENTA Joe vs Dustin (Eliminator) Jericho/HOOK/Shibata vs Taylor/Moriarty/Ogogo Mariah May vs Anna Jay II Rampage: Julia Hart vs Leyla Hirsch BOTB Strong vs Rocky (Eliminator) That's all stuff that I am legitimately looking forward to or are just weird and wacky enough to be interesting.

It pops a rating when they badly need one popped, helps them redebut Perry, and if they do it right (big if), puts needed heat on a very cold FTR vs Bucks IV. Maybe more importantly, we’re in between nights 1 and 2 of Mania, and I woke up to everyone talking about this instead.

I covered Danielson vs BP here: http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2024/04/aewcmll-five-fingers-of-death-41-47.html

I don't know Eddie and would not speak for him so I'll bury this here on DVDVR where it's safe: It has to be super special at this point of Eddie's career to not just get the things he deserved and that he's worked for but to be able to give back in this manner. No one else in the world had the honor of doing this this honor for Mark, only him. Because he had worked to get to the position where he was able to do so.

At the end of the day, I don't think I'm going to necessarily sway you. There are French matches I can show you where they're gritty as hell but the holds are so, so long and even though they're worked hard, I don't think you'll go for it (for instance), but with some of this more mainstream stuff, it's a bit of trying to show you that "Yes, wrestling was that, but it's also this too." But that's probably not going to change the fact you don't care for "the that." No worries on the delay. Life comes first. I'll regroup in ten days or so and find you the next one.

Andretti and Cartwheel feel like the same create a wrestler with palette's switched. I mean just visually. Obviously Cartwheel does more Cartwheels and Andretti does more 1997 Junior Heavyweight offense. I was watching this in the background while doing work but feel like I need to go back at some point for Johnson vs Comoroto. I swear Comoroto, with the changed look, should be the Elite's heater right now, not working some weird proselytizing angle.

It’s the most organic PPV so far, something really built by the TV. More sound, less madcap exciting.

Fin and start of 2/25/89

I’m sure the bad faith grifters loved the Punk interview as a rallying cry but the interview wasn’t that bad. It’s a massive lack of perspective not to realize for the actual fanbase it was the cuts that were the problem this week.

That 2014-2020 (or so) period had a lot of TV shows I very much enjoyed. A lot on AMC/FX/SYFY, but not just. I have no idea why I'm making this list mind you. Just bear with me. Fargo 12 Monkeys The Magicians Legion Hell on Wheels Halt and Catch Fire Leftovers Orphan Black Killjoys People should watch 12 Monkeys. I bet it holds up.

There are things on our mind in general: Henry's injured and has been getting a lot of good will and support over the last few weeks, including a well-selling shirt. Slim J is on the DEAN card so he's on some of our minds. Parker Boudreaux just debuted with AAA and answered YESTERDAY that he was still in AEW (now deleted) The Boys' were just written out of a story in a way that didn't seem like a write-out but that is all over a match with month+ build for the ROH PPV this Friday, which is now going to feel pretty weird. There's never good timing but the timing for those in specific feels bad. Khan has a media call on Thursday so...

My Punk joke that I've been sitting on... "Now that he's back in WWE, it's not like it was a choke anyway. It was just a rest hold."

This speaks for itself honestly, and invites no positivity towards the company. Just going to embed the last tweet in the thread. Before this he notes that he is thankful for the opportunity, for those who championed him (Daivari, Behrens, Coleman):