Brandon Bones

A somewhat forgotten match that always rang a bell in the back of my mind was the night after WM30. The Wyatts just straight up squashed Cena, Sheamus, and somebody I’m forgetting. I was like: “Damn, they got their asses KICKED”.

Same here. I generally get into most of Jericho stuff historically. Lately not so much. But I find myself very surprised how effective that segment was considering I’ve got zero patience for yet another contract signing angle.

The Gunns looked really good out there this week. Snappy bumps and getting a lot of cohesion out of Juice that’s really putting it together. Face MJF is fantastic. As a recovering asshole. I’m along for the ride. These matches with Cole are going to be so much fun. I want to toss my vote in on how effective Renee is in making this show fly. I got another year before Mox goes Stone Cold bald. I hope those ghosts standing behind him and Claudio in the promo photo actually show up. You always get extra long Mox entrances in the international feed because they always coincide with a commercial break. Mox really has come to understand his role these days. He is one of the bigger dudes in the locker room and he wrestles like it these days. The scrappy underdog that was Dean Ambrose is loooooong gone. I want a match with Joe. Shout out to the Funker without whom I’d never strayed from WWF when he showed up mean and lean in 89 WCW. Somebody should have done an angle that involves a smothering with a plastic grocery store bag. Let’s see if those TNT executives are actually paying attention. I’ll forgive the Avalanche Death Rider as long nobody kicks out of it for a very long time. Fenix is special. Let him be special. Also Draft Kings ads already make me sad so a somber delivery is appropriate in my view.

Thinking back to this show I recall going into it being really unenthusiastic about what was certain to be yet another SuperCena victory. I wondered if (beyond my own projection of course) if that might have been the prevailing factor in what was apparently perceived as a ppv buy rate fail put upon Bryans shoulders. I’d also posit that a lack of faith in the company to make correct crowd pleasing decisions might have played the biggest factor. But that would just be “rumor and innuendo”. After all the “Face of the Company” was practically its own championship for several years.

2k23 has officially shit the bed on me. It won’t even get past the start button and loop past the update to the start screen again. Plus it had already been deleting my CAWs. Fucking BULLSHIT!!!

Here I was this morning, making coffee in preparation to watch Collision. I could hear Elton John and a few mumbling promos in the distance. When I walked in the room however, there was what I was certain was new generation of Conquistadors on my tv. Exciting! Turns out it was just CM Punk.

All I know is is I better get a kang-ga-fuckin-rooooo kick at Wembley. Forgive me Mr. Just Drew, sir. I love Adam Cole (and his good friend MJF). The two recovering assholes. The double finger point. I didn’t even know I could love a double clothesline. This is a thing I look forward to in 2023. I too am a recovering asshole. I am also weak and unthreatening. And here is an emoji I’ll share with all of you to spread some cheerful spirits! OC continues to be a really good time all the time. It will be amusing to see Mox fuck his ass up. Felt good to hang with STING for a minute. Neck braces = Hilarious. If you’re going to borrow from somebody. Borrow from Bobby Heenan. I watched Hellraiser the other day so Jeff Hardy peeling off a face was some personal continuity. So is Brother Zays gimmick is he is just nutting all the time? That’s a good gimmick to have. I also am very much convinced that Swerve is championship top of the card ready. Karen Jarrett is lovely. We share names people will no longer call their children from this point forward. One day all the Karens and Brandons will be gone and you will all be glad. Did Excalibur say that Bunny and Penelope’s tag team name is “The Final Girls”? That’s a really good name. Britt kinda biffed Ford after that face lick. Eww.

MLW hasn’t been shy about attaching its wagon to LU and its legacy.

Meh. Let them be upset over nothing. WWE puts on shows routinely in stadiums these days. It’s impressive but it’s hardly news. AEW does one and at least in the moment… that’s a milestone. A high water mark in its progress and in its narrative as a young company that’s still figuring it all out. No pun intended. ECW, TNA, and ROH to a lesser extent all had that question about them over the “when or if” something would happen that might elevate them into the culture to challenge the big E. Also no pun intended. OK maybe a little bit. Selling out Wembley itself is connected to a long standing subplot in wrestling with the UK having been so underserved over the years. Germany make some noise.

I thought so too. Too many black trunk black boots combos. Made me glad to see Gunther go full DBry maroon color scheme.

Having watched so little WWE in the last few years. It was immediately apparent putting this show on my pupils narrowing to regulate the amount of light trying to penetrate the back of my skull. AEW is practically moonlit by comparison. All my smarky hypocrisy aside. I heard Vince was on the shelf and that Ford Field wasn’t located in Saudi Arabia so I gave this show a shot. Keep in mind I’m lacking a lot of the week to week context. But we know most of the time in the E that shit don’t matter. Kid Rock… nope. Ricochet and Paul was excellent. LP illustrates for me the contrast between a guy the trains exclusively for BODY and an actual athlete. There’s a reason Arnold never did a match though you’d think he’d be perfectly suited. Paul is factory installed with everything you need for someone willing to go longer term than your average one-and-done celebrity match. And it’s more than just the moves. The in betweens, he’s making faces/talking shit. Very punchable face too. He works. Poor Ricochet. He could’ve (should’ve) been a modern day Tiger Mask. And his girl WAS wearing the other dudes colors. Cody/Brock was very excellent pro wrestling. Cody going over Brock and getting passed a torch is certainly not the credit card WWE spends money on. So for those still ill’n over Cody not going over at Mania. Maybe perhaps (but still probably not) there’s some hope for this finished story hullabaloo. It had somehow made it into my orbit this LA Knight fellow is quite the jolly chap. I smell a Zach Ryder situation here. Fun Battle Royal with some great visuals of Omas being enormous. I liked Shayna in NXT a lot. Can’t stand Ronda. Hopefully this gets Bazler a shot to elevate. I can see some matches with Rhea getting her there. Fuck the Titantron. Didn’t miss it. It made the stadium look so much more impressive. I get that they use the staging sometimes to mask the appearance of open seats by pushing it forward and giving a more impression of fullness. But if you’re doing a football stadium let it be big. Ford Field I thought looked amazing. Gunther is something of an anomaly. Not that kind of guy I’d figure would get past Vince’s nose. But here we are. Kinda wish JR could’ve called this hoss battle. This might have been the thing to get him out of his slump. Seth Rollins match. Skip. I think so highly of Charlotte in the ring. I’d like a match with her and Omega. I think that match would fucking rule ass. It’s been said that a MITB cash in after a match is reductive to the person you’ve just put over in the prior match. But color me surprised to see Iyo be where she is. Like Gunther I’d have thought “a square peg”. But that was a crowd that loved her for the win. I’m glad to see that the Usos getting not only a solid run. But a long term run at the top. I really felt they were underserved in those early years. Now they’re doing drama based angles in stadiums. Not bad. I used to bitch all the time about announce table spots, destroying it, and then they spend the rest of the sitting in the wreck and doing nothing about it for the rest of the show. This show they DID put it back together for a later announce table spot and now I’m all “Why did they do that?” other than to set up and signal another table spot later in the show. I cannot be satisfied. Again lacking context of just how well the Jimmy turn was executed. Me in a vacuum thought it was pretty good. When was the last time we ever saw the champ, the guy, the whoever franchise player, squash somebody so the announcers could say “And that’s why that motherfucker is the champ”? Setting up the darkest of doom days that by the time Cody steps up again, he’ll be an impossible underdog.

Shit. I fucked up the post already and deleted the whole quote. I’ll try to be better in the future but Bones gonna Bones. Anyway, the Daddy Ass thing stuck out to me as well. Like they were trying to not say Billy Gunn. That’s some ugly Vince shit right there. And man that name game bullshit has always been such a distracting turn off watching wrestling this long. I mean an act bounces from Fed to Fed and creates a positive buzz for whatever reason. But YOU got to own the name even while you strip the value of what you’re investing in. And dopes like Vince would give away the ghost because Ric Flair was totally RIC FUCKING FLAIR in 92 while saying the phrase “Nature Boy” out the side of their mouth. So you KNOW they know there is value out there that they didn’t create. But “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson MUST be Daniel Bryan. Fuck you, dude. Kamala was another good example of why you don’t have to be so married to the idea. He was created outside Vince’s orbit, sure. But Vince didn’t change anything about that act. YMMV on the quality of the gimmick and its overall narrative. But Kamala drew houses (I’ve heard) everywhere he went up to and including with Hogan. That makes sense. Why not more. I get the IP and copyright stuff. You rarely get that kind of crossover fun in other media. So I always felt there was unmined gold to be found there. Indy feds and smaller rivals *TNA* never had any problem embracing an act from somewhere else. Nor did they feel like having outsiders brought in was some threat to its identity. Daddy Ass as a part of AEWs contribution to the Billy Gunn persona is uniquely theirs. But it really rubbed me the wrong way how that was handled. Obviously.

I’m squeezing Swerve into this conversation about which young guys to push. The group he is with overall isn’t that impressive especially in contrast to the other more prominent groups. However my dude is performing flawlessly these day. Meanwhile, he is thickened up enough to have opponents sell heavyweight for his offense. He is making guys right now. So perhaps that gear will finally shift up in the inevitable Keith Lee match. I am with a lot of you in pushing hard for Starks’ rise. It should be encouraging to know that you as a fan are in good hands. That way a Starks hiccup after the title shot doesn’t necessarily guarantee a downward spiral. That was a quick character turnaround and a competently executed reheat that totally lit the fuse. He is back on track. Excuse me while I barf metaphors.

“Double Clothesline my asshole” - Cash Wheeler It was novel to see those two young guys having to go out there opening the show. There is no higher in the pecking order veteran to lead them by the hand. They can’t hide in a short match. They did great. I can only assume that the one time use of The Final Countdown was so expensive that several entrances now have royalty free classical themes. Penny wise, dollar foolish. Man this Cole/MJF team seems to have some legs. The FTR match as a follow up to two of the best tag matches of this year and yet it is still growing in scope is impressive booking and work. When you reach such a high as the BCG matches did. Historically, follow ups that either match or increase in value are kinda rare. I’m ready.

Not at all. In the long run it might be one of those dark horse matches that’ll be a bit overlooked because I don’t think many people saw it coming. That is over how fucking great it turned out. But The Acclaimed was still a developing act that was just hitting its stride. And then there is Jarrett. Who most didn’t see as being capable of churning out the fun and quality at this or any age. But yeah. All those matches rock.

That’s a greatest hits record of wrestling matches right there. Rankings aside. Just stepping back and looking at the total scope of the body of work. You can’t help but go “Damn”. The Dudley’s might be somewhat comparable in pure decorations. But Dax and Cash are in the conversation for the top of a lot of lists.

I wonder if GCW has anything in the pipeline for another big show akin to that show at the Hammerstein awhile back. You know considering who was in that show. They must have spent a pretty penny getting Mox, Ruby, Jarrett, and Cardona all under the same roof. So it’s questionable if they didn’t lose their shirt even with bigger than usual ticket sales and (I vaguely recall seeing reported some fucking where) a decent pull in ppv buys. I’ve watched a fair amount of Game Changer in the last year or so since this show. While it didn’t exactly set the WRLD on fire it WAS a fun show with a lot of effort, creativity, and upgrades in production value. The free YouTube shows are fun if a bit underwhelming. And they are running a pretty strong schedule far outside their own home territory. But in spite of that. I just thought I’d see a bit more growth and/or buzz since then. Wrestling Revolver and DEFY have impressed me with their quality recently as well. Maybe they’ll step up.

Having recently seen a few Allie Katch matches in a couple of different promotions. I am liking a lot of her recent output and also think she has earned a shot.

I’m in on the notion of this episode having a Takeover feel. It’s no coincidence that there was yet another stellar Revival match on the show and a main event with a betrayal angle tacked on at the end. Yep sounds like NXT to me. Don’t mind if I just go ahead and agree with myself. I liked Punk/Joe a lot more than I thought I would. I kind of was betting on one of them getting hurt early and fucking everything up. Nice lil Owen roll to get the win.

STING is the fucking MAN! The dude continues to just give it up for the crowd. So glad he is hanging around. As with Forbidden Door it was hard for me to enjoy this show because I’m sick as a dog with zero attention span. I think my sinuses want me to drown on dry land. AEW however continues to have a lot of credit to spend with me as even their lesser shows don’t really offend me. This was probably one of those on a macro level. But the calm before the storm has us aiming toward what should be a couple of the biggest shows in the companies short history. Hopefully, the build will get us there nice and comfy. I love you AEW. Send meds.

Ugh! I’ve hate watched this pile of shit. Send it to the volcano.

No spilled drink? I’m calling that a win in spite of the circumstances.

I’m disappointed in this show as far too much of it just didn’t hit for me. The Sanada match, the Jericho 6 Man, Toni/Willow, and the Main Event all fell flat for me. The 4 way was great however. Kenny/Osprey was pretty good. Meh.

Nigel sure is planting some seeds on this show. Between him and Kelly reminiscing over Nigel’s ROH title run and referring to Bryan as a “pasty clam digger” in the FD rundown. Nigel also pushed the similarities of him and Andrade’s injuries. Getting Nigel a big moment would put a big bow on a huge part of my 2006/7 ROH obsession. The entrance at Wembley alone might might make this blackhearted old man roll a tear.

Anyone got a boo boo so bad that a check with a bunch of ZEROS can’t fix it? Nope. You don’t. While I wasn’t with Punk after the scrum. I am with him with the “let’s get over it” attitude. AEW HAS TO make their money off Punk now while they can. Multiple injuries and the clock running out on how much time Punk has left and they need to hit the gas. Good returns overall. Plus a double injury in match story you don’t see every day.