notoriusvig

Really good show from top to bottom. They're doing the slow build for the Hangman turn, whereas he probably would've turned a month ago in the WWE. Page almost comes across as sympathetic since all his friends treat him like shit for small mistakes, and they've driven him to drink more. The guy is over everywhere but they really need heels on top. The Moxley stuff was great and Santana's promo was straight fire. Yuka's debut was nice, and I'd like to see more of her. Baker wasn't as good as last week but she still seems way more confident as a heel. SCU/Best Friends was fun, and the Dork Order still doesn't excite me much. I'm wondering if many will even care when they reveal the Exalted One. Daniels would be a let down, and I think it has to be a big surprise. It'll probably still be Hardy, I imagine. The whipping segment was amazing. Such great storytelling. Everyone coming out to encourage Cody was amazing, especially Brandi. 5 years ago, I would've never seen Cody being a top guy but his last year as been absolutely fantastic, and stuff like this proves he's a top guy. Not to discredit MJF or anything, though.

I'm sure I'm not the only one but I can''t buy his and Mandy's relationship at all. I assume it'll end up being revealed that she was just leading him on but that just seems pretty stupid too. So, basically, she'd just be a giant bullying bitch who humiliates a semi-autistic fat guy and then proceeds to lose to Bliss and Cross. To fantasy book a little, I'd be more interested in this if they had more of a dom/sub relationship, where she tells him what to do and he does it because that's the most attention he's ever got from a woman. They wouldn't need to sexualize it with whips and chains, etc. but just have him be a human footstool for her or clean her feet or something. I'd buy that.

I'm out of the WWE loop but is Otis' gimmick that he is mentally challenged?

I thought it was a pretty decent show but admittedly I was doing school work and didn't pay much attention to workrate. I also missed the first quarter hour because I didn't get home in time to see it. I would have liked to have gone to the show but I had too much work. I dug Britt's promo and it was certainly better than last week. The Cody/Kip match was weirdly booked with all the nonsense and strange stuff from Arn. I guess he'll end up turning at some point to get more heat for Matthew Freeman. The Blade and the Butcher are basically job guys, and that vignette was corny but short enough. MJF needs his money back on these guys. The main was pretty decent and I'm more and more convinced that Jericho is one of the best ever. The final segment was very well booked and simplistic and not overly thought out. They put the heat on the heels for a bit and then had Moxley clean house and stand tall. That's how you put over a babyface and a match. No Nightmare Collective was the highlight

Nowadays, all I think about from this is the cringeworthy beatdown Maven got, which I'm guessing also acted as some crazy, carny initiation for him too.

This was definitely the worst show they've done, by far. The first hour was dreadful. The fans just wanted a straight women's match and they got WWE-lite. The Nightmare Collective should go away, like yesterday. I don't give a shit about the bald, ugly fat death match guy with a cyclops eye painted on his forehead. Who the fuck wants to see shit like this? Brandi got set-up on commentary to explain the gimmick and totally beefed it, and she sounded terrible overall. The Dark Order stuff was a little better but they certainly overbooked the whole match and segment. They could've just given Sammy the clean win, ditched Pentagon, and gotten to the same result. The opener was decent and I'm glad they didn't pull the trigger on Page's heel turn yet. He seems to be over as a face everywhere he goes but AEW does need some top heels. Also, the Nakazawa angle redux was a hell of a lot better than last time. The second hour was what the first hour should've been. Most everything hit, with some good action, and clean stuff, with a little overbooking. The Rhodes match was good, which should be expected. The MJF/DDP thing was decent, and at least we got some Diamond Cutters. What's the point of Wardlow if MJF also has the Butcher and the Blade? The final angle was good but went a little too long, but that's ok. It was obvious Moxley was swerving but I wasn't sure if it would go on past this show, and I'm glad it didn't. Personally, I think he should get the belt and then build to Omega/Moxley 2. Jericho has had it a good enough time. The only real credible opponents for Jericho to lose to are Omega and Moxley.

Soccer mom Bayley works for her

Definitely was a good night for in-ring work. I loved the shit out of Jungle Boy/Jericho, and it was exactly how the thing should've played out. Jericho gave a ton to Jungle Boy and he looked amazing, as a result. This is exactly the type of stuff WWE should have been doing with the matches they've done with AJ Styles/Cedric and Styles/Carillo, in that Cedric and Carillo lost but they still were put over well. I was a little worried that they were going to be beat Jungle Boy when Jericho asked for more time but he pulled out the ultimate heel move by then leaving when he starting losing. Great stuff and Hager has never looked better and seemed pretty charismatic and dynamic. The main event was great and the opener was pretty decent. I'm glad they didn't get the belts off SCU so quickly like I feared they would. I'm not sure what to make of Dark Order and I'm trying to figure out why I should care that those two guys were initiated in. I totally have a huge problem with Omega taking the fall in the opener. It took me a while to jump on this train but I have to say they aren't doing Kenny any favors here. It's been said but to new viewers of AEW, Kenny hasn't looked like more than an upper mid-card guy. If Moxley doesn't beat Jericho for the belt in February, they then need to get it on to Kenny in May with some damn good build-up. The Nakazawa thing was lame and I don't think they've established the friendship well between him and Kenny. Why am I supposed to care about Pac beating him up when that hasn't been fully established and I couldn't even see his face in the angle? I'm glad they didn't give the win to Baker but she at least looked acceptable out there. The alien gimmick has to go and the booping has potential to get over but Statlander looked like a goober during that interview with Schiavone. The Brandi stuff was acceptable but the whole gimmick resembles the Dark Order too much with the recruitment and all.

I think Emi has a ton of charisma and presence and she's definitely an asset to AEW. The gimmick is a little weird though and they need to figure out a way to make it work more.

Harper's probably the only guy I'd want AEW to even sign. Sin Cara is way too slow to keep up with guys like Fenix, etc. The Ascension has a good look but what kind of workers are they and can they keep up with all the other teams? Plus, how many of these guys do they really want to sign without looking minor league by picking up WWE's sloppy seconds?

Now that Orton has signed on for another five grueling years, he should pull a Jericho and re-invent himself into a 3-count cover band with two other guys

I definitely thought this was the worst episode they've done so far, but I don't really think it was bad. I missed the first match and caught some of the Fenix/Trent match, which seemed good. I saw the highlights of the opener today and it looked pretty good. Statlander/Shida was pretty decent and it's nice to see Statlander get a good win. I think they really blew it with the post-match stuff and they definitely took the heat from her with the stupid Brandi shit. What's the point of the win if you just forget about 5 minutes later because of some goofy angle? It's not like they can't fix it by bringing it up next week but I still think it would be better if everything was booked differently. Brandi's stupid shit about joining up with her and Kong reminded me way too much of the goofy, overdone Dark Order vignettes. This company needs to decide what they are. Are they realistic sports-esque wrestling or are they goofy and unrealistic? The Cody promo was good but again, you've got realistic Cody cutting a killer promo but then he's mentioning his goofy wife in the same promo. I think it takes you out of the show and the promo when he brings up his wife's weird gimmick and angles. The Blade and Butcher vignette was decent enough but did resemble the Dark Order stuff and Brandi's cult. Allie hasn't come across better in AEW than that vignette, which is good. Keep her and Brandi away from the ring. Pentagon/Daniels was nothing special, and it just made me wish for a Lucha Bros. match. I used to think Penta would make a great main event guy but now I'm not sure. The Jericho segment was fun and put over Moxley well Janela's promo was fine until Moxley came in with his corny line and made him look like a geek. Their match was fine but nothing special, and Moxley looked good, which was the point. I think Moxley needs to win the belt soon since he's pretty hot and there is plenty of time for him to chase and build more heat for the match. He's #2 on the roster in my book because people know him but he isn't totally established as some sort of made main event guy. Put the belt on him and have Omega chase towards a rematch at the end of the year.

From NXT tonight

I didn't watch the whole thing yet but the one thing that really stood out was Rip Rayzor (I think it was him) doing a drop down and actually tripping up his opponent. One of the only times I've seen that move given some context and meaning.