Brandon Bones

Oh shit. That injury was awful.

Did my post read as if I thought that was something AEW WAS doing? Because that isn’t what I meant. I was suggesting they push JB (and probably a few others) in that light. So as to appeal to those demographics.

I’d add to the Jungle Boy point. Hot boys sell tickets. This kid is generationally hot boy too. A unicorn of shirtless photos and t-shirt sales. Bieber this Jungle Boy.

Cole doesn’t rank very high in my wrestling priority list. But I see no need to be fatalist like Cole doesn’t have something to offer. He totally does. Plus, I could see him and Britt eventually getting over in reality land.

Doubtful, considering how they’ve treated the show over the last year or so. Long gone are the bored hotel bound nothing better to do skits and production that helped create the buzz early AEW had. Same with pandemic era Dark Order having a dedicated room to do all their fun silliness. Hangman is most likely tied up with child rearing so his contributions have been minimal. They just don’t have the time or interest like they used to or so it would seem. At least that’s what recent episodes seem to reflect.

So you’re saying Bryan Danielson snuck his way into this match and nobody saw him? Brilliant!

It’s fun that OZ gets a mention here. IIRC the Torch had a writer at the time OZ was airing that compared the feuding and fights on the show to pro wresting booking. The writer (I don’t recall who 20 years later) liked the intricate relationships that helped build the feuds to a pay off. The first season of Spartacus was also VERY good “wrestling show” in that regard. Man I can’t help but heap more praise on Omega/Vikingo. What a great match. AEW continues to be the only place I can settle down and watch wrestling. I love you AEW.

I’m going out on a limb. But I think AEW is ripe to plow the fields of a big celebrity match. A celebrity of a certain athletic ability pitted against somebody in the locker room who can elevate it, hold it together, and would also be primed to take a rung up the ladder even if they had to job. I don’t know… maybe Wardlow. So I’m pondering a list of potentials that might suit the bill to really SELL the show. I admit though at 48 years old my awareness of the cultural zeitgeist is probably suspect. I’d have never considered a Logan Paul just because he isn’t in my GenXer orbit. You’ll see what I mean. First and foremost has to be Tom Brady. He really is the great white hope. His credentials speak for themselves and is a household name. Plus I think he has a price as a guy who hasn’t been scared of money. You DO run the risk of him going the way of Mayweather where the crowd sours as he makes baby face at the camera. After all, not everywhere is New England. Even my being pretty anti-football still allows me to recognize the gigantic marquee value having Brady’s name there. Antonio Brown - I know absolutely nothing of his athletic career other than he has bounced (or been bounced) from multiple NFL teams. I’m told he is a mix of Dennis Rodman and Brian Pillman in his wacky ability to color outside the lines. Honestly, I’m reading this more like a Charlie Sheen meltdown. Which doesn’t sell it any less to me in all its instability. I heard he was banging Brady’s wife too. Make it a tag match. Joe Rogan - An older guy for sure. But Jarrett could carry him to some classic Memphis horseshit. Make the figure 4 Joes finisher. Pay him an extra 10 bucks if he makes it look good. Shaq? - Maybe? We got that cliff hanger from before with the ambulance etc. Not sure what exactly to do with that absent Cody. LeBron - Again, famous name at that high water mark in athletics that should sell a stadium. Name brand. I have to be missing someone or many ones.

Wardlow. Get a submission hold. There seemed to be a lot of theatrical accompaniment with the Hobbs/Wardlow deal. Shrink wrapped pallets of empty cardboard boxes are a pretty safe way to take some action while moving to the next set piece. I didn’t think it was that bad. Loved the trios match and the angle afterward. Winnipeg is going to be nuclear. Fox being unknowingly photobombed by the JAS was chefs kiss. Ruby really tied the division in a bow. That was a really unique promo that weaved all the narrative exposition from just about all corners of the Women’s division. It’s probably no coincidence that Jades promo was kind of ambiguous in coming to a conclusion. I like this idea of her being a replacement in a War Games (oops) injury scenario. That’ll pop them big time, brother. Don Callis is a treasure. Rats off to him!

I see what you’re saying in a practical level but I kinda get why. What I don’t get is why it was done so frequently over the years. As a story telling device. The sense of urgency that can be applied after crafting some sort of controversial finish the night before could lend itself some elevation of interest. As it’s been gone to far too many times with poor execution. It’s baffling how the often the concept has been botched. I’m all about elevation of the weekly show with out seeing it as diminishing the value of spending money on the ppv.

Well I invited a few friends over for the ppv… This was a really good show that I had tried convincing myself not to buy. But I did it. Boy oh was this show the dogs balls. Money well spent. I was so jazzed after a 4 hour show that included a 60 Minute Iron Man match. I stayed up even later to watch The Last of Us. Fuck spoilers. Wasn’t even tired. I noted that when running down AmDrags accomplishments in having long matches. There was a certain Saudi Arabia Rumble that didn’t get mentioned. Good. If I were a kid and an adult gave me alcohol… not mad about it. Just saying. I knew that Oklahoma shit was bullshit. I’ll bet JR doesn’t even have a twangy accent. I’ll bet he is Australian. This is too late in the game for this to be news to me.

Does anyone else think it might be prudent to put the Iron Man match on first? Let Mox and Hangman close. It certainly won’t hurt the enthusiasm of the crowd, right?

I had a random thought as I started watching. “This going to need at least 1-2 squash matches to facilitate a 1st episode”. They wisely booked The Embassy that way. Although I might have placed it earlier in the show (or even 1st) to step on the gas and quicken the pace of the show. This Honor Club experiment is already fighting from underneath in an over saturated market where even more high profile brands struggle to get attention. I’m in… for now. The production quality is very good boosted no doubt by the existing AEW infrastructure. It was cool to see the Renegades do some different work. This was their chance to show what else they could do other than JUST put someone higher in the pecking order over. They did that too. But booked in a way that gave them some spotlight highlights before they did. Good start. Yuta is an interesting guy. It’s borderline “short man’s syndrome”. But I’m here for it. He is eventually going to have to shiv one of the BCC to step up. Lady Frost. Call me. I will hold every door open for you if you promise to that hand spring into every room. Wakka wakka! Athena vs. Willow is going to kill it. Bring back the aluminum crowd barrier signs. Let the crowds make noise with them. The nuttiest thing in wrestling to me these days is the complete reframing of the BIG SWING as a submission. It just tickles me.

The Dynamite opener is always a sweet spot for me. By the time I get around to watching AEW on Thursday. I’m ready to watch my weekly show and probably smoked like a brisket. I’m so ready to receive wrestling. So the likelihood of my being positive and open minded on the opening match is pretty good. If that means weirdo Orange Cassidy and Bigger Cassidy steal the show? So be it. I confess to this glaring execution of bias and one sided arguments.

I’m thinking the pecking order clout dynamic will have MJF chasing Bryan the whole match. After Bryan scores either 1 or a couple of early falls that’ll have MJF scrambling to catch up with every shitbag tactic. Max will eventually get put over on the merits of his heel character. Bryans toil and hill climbing toward the match itself is meant to show just how much better (on paper) he is than Max. MJF will have to use what we know him to be thus far to be properly put over. Or just have Bryan outclass him at every turn to facilitate an actual name brand wrestler as champion before jump starting house show tours.

It’s funny how some matches kind of catch one by surprise and it’ll stick with you. I honestly liked Okada/Kiyomiya the most from this week. But Yuta/OC is a good choice too.

That Muto stuff was really nice. It was nice and I liked it. Loved the Chono set up. What wasn’t nice was that guy Okada fucked up. That dude got wrecked. Hard. The production quality of this show was top notch.

The concept of a tag rope was one trope that kind of baffled me. WWF always seemed to have them. I understood that the idea behind it made some sense in supporting the rule of a “legal tag”. That the partner in the corner is only allowed to reach so far from their corner. Otherwise, why not just make tags happen anywhere? After all the potential for the ref missing visual confirmation of a tag late in the match could lead to dramatic high water marks. But of course you could be choking a motherfucker out with it behind the refs back too. Which makes having the tag rope at all really questionable. I think I’ve seen few other feds use the tag rope but never in the same way. Plus plenty that didn’t did just as well as to wonder why anyone would even bother.

How am I supposed to vote when there’s no Bryan Danielson match on the list? This week is disqualified.

This made me happy. Be happy too. Just like your wrestling pal Brandon Bones.

That Palpatine entrance was a pretty great moment. Yeah. It started with some character stuff and some filler. But it hit the ground running this week.

A chance to vote another Bryan Danielson match for MOTW? I think I will. It’s just how it is.

It’s so impressive how condensing a narrative in the case of this show is never reductive. The fear being that whatever you combine or jettison from the original text will somehow take all the meat off the bone. Yet TLOU never loses it any of its heft. I could see a scenario where all the performances are still the same greatness but a haphazard adaptation spoils or at the very least makes it lesser. So far, not the case. Brandon Bones will remember that. I will keep this critique in my back pocket though. I never played the game. But I did watch a pretty spiffy fan edit 2 years ago that cut out as much of the game portion as possible. Which is how I fell in love with all of it. Much of that particular experience was bordering on self flagellation in how horrific and painful (cathartic) it could be. Which made TLOU seem more niche than it probably is (considering it WAS a launch title for the PS3). A mainstream audience will only have so much tolerance for that. Glenn’s death on TWD certainly damaged that show and having all 9 episodes of this show being akin to that would probably be a mistake. Save it for the home stretch. Bonus points for people who are familiar. They still manage to find ways to surprise. The sink hole caught me completely off guard.

https://winteriscoming.net/2023/02/05/the-last-us-episode-5-will-air-hbo-early-friday-not-sunday/ Neato! Early episode on Friday!

I continue to turn around my opinion on Jade. She was pretty great with Red and I can see these two having a long term series in the future. Long gone is a lot of that bad foot work that made her seem clumsy. Jade these days seems a lot more comfortable in the ring. Another great episode of Dynamite. Boom.